Coronado boys’ varsity basketball team is having a stellar season. With a record of 17-2, MaxPreps has the Islanders ranked No. 1 for Division 3 in all of San Diego county. Watching my first game of the season Friday night, I can understand why. The Islanders have a bunch of kids who can shoot. They are well disciplined, solid in fundamentals and running a structured offense. Their success has bred a high confidence whether executing the full court press or running and gunning when they have an advantage.
The Clairemont Chieftains came to town Friday and knew they were going to have a tough time matching up with the home team. The Islanders pressed early and often, forcing turnovers. A steal by Myles Manning and a feed to DJ Jackson underneath opened the scoring. A pair of free throws each by Ryan Sauter and Eric Seifert was followed by another steal and fast break points for Caden Gentry. That trend continued with driving lay-ups by Vaughn Madariaga and Bruen Roulier. When DJ Jackson sank a mini jump-hook, the scoreboard read 16-0 and the fans were feeling a bit sorry for the Chieftains.
Wyatt Montague, who had a breakout game, drained a jumper from the corner for the first 2 of his game high 16 points. Next it was the ‘Caden Gentry Show’ as he drained three 3 pointers and had a nice inside assist to DJ in the span of 90 seconds. With Coronado in command, coach JD Laaperi freely substituted. David Grant-Williams made a nifty inside move driving the lane for 2. Senior point guard David Rusu cleared a Claremont rebound and went coast to coast for a lay in. Rusu followed that with a pinpoint pass inside to Scott Hendricks for an easy bucket.
Clairemont had no answer for the inside play of Jackson as he scored the next 4 points on a put back and an assist from Jack Rinko for a breakaway lay-up. Eric Siefert scored the last 5 points of the half on two free throws and a 3 pointer from the corner. It was a dominating first half performance as the Islanders led 50-6 at the break.
The second half belonged to Wyatt Montague with several drives and jumpers leading to his highest point total of the season. All Islanders got valuable playing time and each did their team proud. Nathan Dorow showed his smooth shooting touch draining a 3 pointer late in the game. The coaches agreed to a running clock in the fourth quarter which provided a respite of mercy to a completely dominating performance by the Islanders. Final score was 69-20. Coronado is 2-0 in Central league play; 17-2 overall.
Next up is a home, non-conference game against San Pasqual on Tuesday, Jan. 10th. Then Coronado travels to Pt. Loma Friday, Jan. 13th for probably their biggest conference challenge against the rival Pointers. Come out to cheer on your varsity cagers and be a part of a special season.
