Silverado Is Charging Out of Obscurity

The first indication that Victorville is a long way from Los Angeles comes while driving north on Interstate 15. There are billboards advertising new homes in the low “$100,000s.”

The speed limit is 70 mph. While passing the high-desert community of Hesperia, there’s a water tower off to the side of the road. Ears begin to pop going up the Cajon summit at an elevation above 4,000 feet.

It has taken nearly two hours to reach this community of 64,000. My assignment is to uncover the truth about the most mysterious basketball team in the Southern Section playoffs, the Silverado Hawks, seeded No. 2 in Division I-AA with a 26-1 record.

Ask people in L.A. if they’ve heard of Silverado, and they’ll reply, “Sure, it’s a truck.” Or, if not a truck, Silverado is the name of a 1985 Lawrence Kasdan-directed western movie.

Silverado, the high school, opened in 1996 and has since more than doubled in size with an enrollment of 3,100. The boys’ basketball team has won three of the last four Desert Sky League championships.

“It’s rarified air,” Coach Kurt Herbst said. “We’ve never been seeded this high.”

Herbst plans to break out a video of the basketball movie, “Hoosiers,” to show his team this week. If Silverado were to win the championship, the Hawks would be a worthy desert version of “Hoosiers.”

No player averages more than 13 points. No player is considered a big-time college prospect. No player is taller than 6 feet 5. But four players average in double figures and the team goes 10 deep.

“We do it by strength in numbers rather than one or two superstars,” Herbst said.

Defense is what ignites the Hawks. They use a man-to-man full-court press designed to wear down opponents. Alhambra was the Hawks’ first playoff victim last week, 91-42.

“When it’s right, we force opponents to have a lot of turnovers, which gives us easy layups,” point guard Vince Alvarado said.

Convincing high school players to sacrifice the glory of scoring points for the satisfaction of stopping someone else from scoring is the path to coaching success.

With this season’s group of players, Herbst has made it to the promised land.

“We bring lots of intensity,” 5-9 senior guard Dominic Priestley said. “We go all out. We bought in. Everyone has a will to play defense. We run up and down the court, and we’re not going to slow down.”

Alvarado, a 6-foot senior, is the team’s leading scorer at 13.6 points. He has made 59 three-point baskets. Jaimie Lester, a 6-2 junior, is averaging 11.9 points and leads the team in assists with 129.

Center Aesh Dabbas, a 6-5 senior, is a former soccer goalie known for his rebounding and jumping skills. He’s averaging 10.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and has taken eight charging fouls. Brandon Price, a 6-4 senior forward, is averaging 10.0 points and 7.0 rebounds.

The other starter is Priestley, who relies on quickness to cause havoc on the press.

The team’s loss was to Fontana by 11 points. Silverado can turn up the offense when it needs, as demonstrated when it scored 106 points against Rim of the World. The Hawks also limited Ridgecrest Burroughs to 26 points. The players know the secret to success.

“Everyone [else] is out for themselves, to score 40 points or get spectacular dunks in your face,” Dabbas said. “We like that but understand it comes from defense.”

Keeping his players focused and unselfish is what Herbst has done best this season. He played at Bellflower High and Pomona-Pitzer College and coached at neighborhood rival Victor Valley before arriving at Silverado six years ago.

“He’s never negative,” Lester said. “He teaches instead of coaches. Some people tell you what to do. He explains it.”

Excitement should build around campus and in the city if the Hawks can keep winning in the playoffs. Victorville is losing one of its only tourist attractions, the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum, which is moving to Branson, Mo. But a section championship banner hanging in the Silverado gym could draw lots of attention.

To win the Division I-AA championship, Silverado will probably have to defeat third-seeded Fontana in a semifinal rematch and knock off top-seeded Rialto Eisenhower in the final.

Then everyone would know about Silverado basketball.

“We’ve got something to prove,” Herbst said.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.