CdM boys’ basketball continues torrid pace with win over Marina
- Share via
The Corona del Mar High boys’ basketball team is an experienced group that is playing well together, and people have noticed.
Earlier this season, the Sea Kings were ranked in the top 10 of the Los Angeles Times’ Southern California rankings for the first time in program history. In the most recent rankings, they reside just outside at No. 11.
CdM won its first 15 games of the season, and has not turned into a pumpkin as the clock rolled around to Sunset League play.
Junior guard Maxwell Scott scored a game-high 22 points as the Sea Kings blasted Marina 77-54 at home on Wednesday night.
Fellow junior guard Ryan Mansouri added 19 points, including five three-pointers, for Corona del Mar (18-1, 3-0 in league).
“We just have a ton of experience,” said CdM coach Jason Simco, whose team sits in first place in league, a half-game ahead of Edison (2-0 in league). “They keep surprising me, I’ll tell you that. We’re pretty small. If you look at all of the other teams in Division 1, they’ve got a 6-8, 6-7, 6-10 kid. We’re starting [6-foot-2] Caden Sanchez at our [center], who is really a shooting guard.”
Simco was asked what his team’s ceiling is.
“You never know with a team that likes each other, plays hard and they’re very coachable,” he responded.
Scott, a gifted shooter, has expanded his game to driving inside more and crashing the boards. He’s the team’s leading rebounder, Simco said, following the graduation of post player Jackson Harlan.
“Last year, we had Jackson, who gobbled up every rebound,” Scott said. “This year, we don’t have that piece, so I’ve been trying to get in there and put a body on someone to try to get boards and help the team.”
Among Scott’s highlights Wednesday night were a pair of crowd-satisfying dunks — one assisted by senior point guard Luke Mirhashemi, the other off a steal.
It was Scott’s sophomore brother, Nolan Scott, who had the game-winning layup Monday night as CdM earned a big 78-77 win at defending league champion Los Alamitos, which won the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title last year. The victory was Simco’s 100th as head coach.
Senior guard Oliver Nakra added 19 points and four three-pointers Wednesday night for CdM, which led by as many as 30 points in the second half. It started with defense, as the Sea Kings held Marina (9-10, 1-2 in league) to just six first-quarter points.
“They all play together and move the ball really well,”Marina sophomore shooting guard Shane Gloger said of CdM. “They’re all really good three-point shooters, which is what hurt us a lot, especially when we were in zone [defense].”
Coach Nick Racklin’s Vikings are young. Gloger is the only returning starter after the graduation of experienced players like Dylan Gomez and Barak Simon, who helped lead Marina to its first CIF title in 2024.
Colton Willis led Marina with 13 points on Wednesday, followed by Gloger with 12. Willis is one of the Vikings’ two transfers from Lakewood, Gloger said, along with fellow sophomore guard Kash Lawson.
He cited shot selection as a key for the Vikings moving forward.
“We have a lot of good shooters on our team, but we sometimes settle too much,”he said. “Especially myself, my coach is telling me to get to the rim every single play.”
Corona del Mar returns to action when it plays at Edison on Monday night. Marina hosts Los Alamitos on Friday night.
Sunset League
Corona del Mar 77, Marina 54
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Marina 6 - 19 - 12 - 17 — 54
Corona 16- 24 - 26 - 11 — 77
M — Willis 13, Gloger 12, Boucher 8, E. Avina 7, Lawson 4, Vu 4, Schatzman 3, Fronek 2, Jedlick 1.
3-pt. goals — E. Avina 1, Vu 1, Schatzman 1.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.
CdM — M. Scott 22, Mansouri 19, Nakra 14, Mirhashemi 6, Sanchez 5, N. Scott 2, Hewett 2, Snyder 2, Wagner 2, Rucker 1, Waite 1, Cole 1.
3-pt. goals — Mansouri 5, Nakra 4, Sanchez 1.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.
