Kaatz Plays Lead Role as Marina Wins Title
Marina Coach Roger Holmes said Viking forward Dustin Kaatz is one of the more overlooked players in the county--and Kaatz’s recent performances confirm he is at least one of the best.
Kaatz, who has received scant interest from Division I colleges, averaged 27.4 points in leading Marina to the championship of last week’s Estancia tournament. He scored 38 in the Vikings’ first-round victory over Glendale Hoover and led all scorers with 30 in the title-game victory over Estancia.
The 6-foot-5 senior’s best attribute is his versatility. He handles the ball like a guard, can shoot three-pointers and posts up as well as the best big men around.
For the season, Kaatz is averaging 22.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
“He creates a lot of problems for people,” Holmes said. “He’s led us for most of the year. The fact that he can play basically any position on the floor makes him such a valuable player.”
TINY BALL OF FIRE
Referees working the 11th-place game of last week’s Orange tournament couldn’t contain a chuckle when Huntington Beach reserve point guard Derek Mio entered the game in the waning minutes of the Oilers’ loss to Esperanza.
Mio, a senior, is listed at 5 feet 2, but his spiked hairdo of orange, black and white strands pushes him over the 5-foot mark.
But his contribution to his team is no laughing matter. In fact, you could consider Mio the Muggsy Bogues of Orange County basketball.
Despite his height and weight, listed as 110 pounds (“And that’s on a wet day with rocks in his pockets,” noted Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller), the pesky Mio can hold his own against players several inches taller.
“He’s fiery,” said Miller, who also coached Mio’s brother, Mike, a 5-1 guard who graduated in 1998. “He knows that in order for him to be able to participate on the floor he’s going to have to go hard and use his quickness and his shooting and ballhandling.
“He doesn’t have the height at all, but he’s still been able to perform.”
SECRET OF THEIR SUCCESS
Veronica Johns-Richardson got the tournament MVP, Katie Hardeman and Stefanie Schilling get a lot of the shots, and Amanda Livingston and Kianey Givens-Davis are the forces inside, but Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan says guard Alicia Komaki is the secret to the success of the Troy girls’ team.
“When she plays well, we play well,” Kiernan said.
Second-ranked Mater Dei found out in the final of the Orange County Championship last week when Komaki came in and hit three three-point baskets in the second quarter to help build an insurmountable lead.
The Warriors’ intensity could have been called into question before the tournament, but not afterward.
“I’ve been harping on them about mental toughness all year, and I’ve been hard on them--maybe too hard,” Kiernan said. “But they came through. To play four games in four days against this level of competition, and to grind it out like that in the final says a lot about Troy. And about Mater Dei.”
Troy defeated four top-10 teams to win the title, including No. 10 Rosary, No. 9 Edison and No. 5 San Clemente.
Mater Dei beat Troy, 56-54, a week earlier in the Open Division consolation final at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.
Kiernan said he thought the level of play at the O.C. Championships was consistently higher. “Everyone’s more focused, everyone is familiar with each other,” Kiernan said. “Let’s face it. Santa Barbara’s got a lot of distractions. It’s a vacation.”
THE HARD WAY
No one can accuse Edison of taking the easy way out as host of the Orange County Championship. Coach Dave White put his Charger girls’ basketball team in the same pool as Troy, San Clemente and Rosary. On the final day, every team from that pool won against teams from the other pool.
WINNING THROUGH LOSING
Laguna Hills, the only unranked girls’ basketball team in the O.C. Championship field, was also the only team that didn’t win a game. But in three pool-play games, the Hawks led Mater Dei at halftime, led Foothill in the fourth quarter and lost, in double-overtime, to El Toro. Sophomore point guard Megan Aaker, averaging 15 points going into the tournament, averaged 20.3 in those games.
Other coaches agreed that Laguna Hills (7-9) had a great tournament and, because of the competitive environment, may have improved its chances of upending Irvine for the Sea View League title.
After the El Toro loss, Coach Jim Martin said, “If there’s such a thing as a good 0-3, this was a good 0-3.”
CHANGING FORTUNES
Santa Ana Valley, which went 10-15 last season, won the Laguna Beach girls’ basketball tournament to improve to 9-2.
The Falcons defeated Orange Lutheran, 60-54, in the final. The Lancers, who lost their first three games, had won seven of eight before the loss.
Staff writer Martin Henderson contributed to this report.
If you have an item or idea for the prep basketball report, you can fax us at (714)966-5663 or e-mail us at ben.bolch@latimes. com or martin.henderson@latimes.com or paul.mcleod@latimes.com
