Girls basketball: Dream Team 2000

Barry Faulkner

Like the team she led to its first league championship in recent

memory, Corona del Mar High girls basketball standout Kristin McCoy came

out of nowhere in her junior season.

Her ascension is now complete, after earning Player of the Year honors on

the Daily Pilot’s All-Newport-Mesa District Dream Team.

McCoy, who missed most of her sophomore season with a badly sprained

ankle, led district scorers at 15.1 points per game. The 5-foot-7 forward

also averaged 10.1 rebounds and gave the Sea Kings the confidence they

needed to reverse years of struggle, finish 22-6 and reach the CIF

Southern Section Division III-AA quarterfinals.

“Kristin is the ultimate complete player,” CdM’s Elbert Davis, the

District Coach of the Year, said. “That includes diving on the floor for

a loose ball, scoring and rebounding. She leads the team in just about

every statistical category.”

McCoy’s contribution, which helped CdM win the Pacific Coast League, was

best exemplified in a Jan. 13 league game against Estancia.

After being limited to three points (all free throws) before halftime,

she exploded for 24 second-half points, hitting 10 of 15 field-goal

attempts and leading her team from a 24-20 halftime deficit to a 55-32

win over the eventual league runner-up.

Joining McCoy on the Dream Team are Costa Mesa repeat selections Autumn

Smith, Jenny Earnest and Nancy Hatsushi.

Lauren Cassity, representing Estancia, is another repeat honoree, while

CdM guard Charlene Quon rounds out the six-player unit.

Smith, a 6-0 senior center, led the Mustangs in scoring (12.1 per game)

and rebounding (10.1). She also blocked 113 shots, tying the school

single-season record she set as a junior, when she was Newport-Mesa

District Co-Player of the Year.

Smith stepped up her game in the playoffs, earning Daily Pilot Athlete of

the Week honors after amassing 32 points, 27 rebounds and seven blocks in

the Mustangs’ two postseason victories.

Earnest, a 5-8 senior wing, averaged 11.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and three

steals per contest, helping the Mustangs reach the CIF III-AA

quarterfinals and finish 18-11.

Hatsushi, a 5-4 junior point guard, averaged 9.7 points, 6.2 assists --

sixth best in Orange County -- and 2.1 steals in her third varsity

season.

Cassity, a 5-8 senior whose tenacity was second to none, averaged 12.5

points and provided strong leadership to the Eagles, who surprised many

by finishing ahead of Mesa in the PCL, en route to a 17-10 campaign.

Quon, a senior, averaged 9.2 points, but was the district’s most

dangerous three-point threat. She canned 41 three-pointers to help

prevent defenses from sagging on McCoy in the paint.

Quon’s three-pointer in the closing seconds helped CdM defeat Costa Mesa,

41-38, in the PCL finale, clinching sole possession of the league crown.