They’re Forging a Winning Heritage

The tiny gym the Heritage Christian High boys’ basketball team used for home games three years ago was a 25-minute drive from the school. Nestled behind a small church in a quiet residential neighborhood of Garden Grove, the gym’s playing surface was a low-grade gray carpet with black markings for out-of-bounds lines.

The only five boys who tried out for the team played every minute of every game. The hollow sound the ball made bouncing off the carpet was symbolic of a 1-19 season. Against other tiny schools in the Express League, the Patriots were 0-10.

Heritage Christian still practices on the rug, but everything else has turned into one big magic carpet ride.

Thanks to the determination of third-year Coach Mark Berokoff, the infusion of three talented transfers and the perseverance of players who have stuck around since the program’s exceptionally low ebb, Heritage Christian today will play for its first Southern Section basketball title.

The second-seeded Patriots meet top-seeded Los Angeles Price in the Division V-A championship game at 4:45 p.m. at Loyola Marymount. Heritage Christian, which already has clinched a berth in the state playoffs beginning next week, is the first Orange County school to advance to the V-A title game since the division was formed in 1991.

“From where we began to where we are now, I’m in awe of it all,” said Berokoff, who transformed the team that was 1-19 the year before his arrival into an example of small-school excellence.

Once the big easy, the Patriots now are everyone’s big game.

“I can remember my freshman year, just walking out on the court knowing we’re going to get beat by 50,” said senior swingman Todd Warner, the first player in school history to score more than 1,000 points. “Now I walk out on the court and I know we’re about to beat a team by 50. That’s . . . crazy.”

Berokoff would call it simple execution of a plan he set in motion upon his arrival. The 25-year-old coach brought a can-do approach and ran the program as if it were on the college level, breaking down tape for his players, scouting opponents and running practices with a sense of urgency.

His biggest task initially was convincing students from a school of about 35 boys to come out for the team. All too aware of the program’s recent past, few players showed up, forcing Berokoff to run a slow-down offense and zone defense. His first team made progress, finishing 9-12 and 5-5 in league and barely missing the playoffs.

“I think the toughest part of that year was losing league games by 40, 50 points a couple of times and having to sit there thinking, ‘Man, is it going to get any better?’ ” Berokoff recalled.

Heritage Christian caught a break in the middle of Berokoff’s second season when shooting guard Matt Winter transferred from Fontana Ambassador Christian. Only then could the Patriots open up their offense a bit and do some different things. They went 16-10, won the league title with a 7-1 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs.

Last summer, the stage was set for a record-breaking season when guards Jason Grier and Ryan Meyer transferred from Kennedy. Grier gave the Patriots an additional scoring threat from the wing, while Meyer brought excellent ball-handling skills.

“Having the three transfers come in really boosted up the program,” Berokoff said. “Those are the team’s top three players.”

It wasn’t like they were clamoring to get to Heritage Christian, though. Winter said the school wasn’t his first choice. “It was actually my last choice,” he said, after failing to execute transfers to Etiwanda, Fontana Miller and Fontana. “The team looked pretty much terrible when I saw them play.”

Grier came because of differences with teachers and coaches at Kennedy. His parents thought the Christian-school environment would do him some good.

The transfers are sold now. And with all the pieces in place, Berokoff has his team where he wants it. He’s implemented a Kentucky-like system, running on offense and pressing full-court on defense.

The results are indisputable: The Patriots (24-4), who now play home games at a junior high gym in Anaheim, met or surpassed all of their preseason goals. They won the Orangewood Academy tournament, won their league with a 12-0 record and have gone one step further than the playoff semifinals.

“I’ve only dreamed about going to the final,” said Grier, a senior whose three-pointer with seven seconds left lifted the Patriots to a 68-65 victory over Antelope Valley Christian in a semifinal. “I’m overwhelmed by it. I’m real happy we’re in it; I just hope we can win. If we play our ‘A’ game and not our ‘C-plus’ game, we can win.”

Added Berokoff: “In three years we’ve gone from being maybe the worst team in Orange County to one in the [Southern Section] finals. Where we are now, it’s awesome. I’m thrilled.”