Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Eliasar Maldonado, Eagles’ point

of attack

Tony Altobelli

In front of every good orchestra is a controlling conductor and in

front of every solid basketball team is a point guard who helps keep

offensive chaos to a minimum.

The Estancia High boys basketball team went through periods of

ear-splitting, headache-inducing, offensive calamity before senior

Eliasar Maldonado took over the job as court general.

The rest of the season was symphonic bliss for the Eagles.

Estancia, stuck at 7-14 and needing to win its final four games to

reach the playoffs, turned to Maldonado for not only scoring, but for

leadership and offensive distribution.

He did just that. Three straight wins over Laguna Beach, Corona del

Mar and Northwood were sparked by Maldonado’s 20 points and eight assists

per game.

Despite falling short in the season finale against University, Coach

Chris Sorce had nothing but good things to say about Maldonado’s

adaptation to the point guard position.

“Eliasar did everything we asked of him to do and he did it very

well,” Sorce said of the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week. “He was our

only returning varsity player and he was our captain. He made the team

better by sacrificing his scoring for the good of the team.”

Actually, his scoring remained around 17 points per game all season,

but he helped elevate his teammates’ point total and the Eagles became a

better team.

“I just wanted to help the team win,” Maldonado said. “I didn’t care

about how many points I scored. When I went to the point, I really wanted

to get everyone involved.”

With a new coach and a new varsity team, patience was the theme for

the Eagles, who played their best basketball down the stretch.

“I just tried to stay focused out there and let the game come to me,”

Maldonado said. “If we ran the offense properly, good things came from

it. Early in the year, My game was quick, set and shoot, which didn’t

work too well. Coach Sorce really taught me a lot about being patient.”

Last week was a great example of Maldonado’s more matured play. In the

Eagles’ 54-49 Pacific Coast League win over Northwood on Feb. 6,

Maldonado scored 18 points and dished out eight assists, mostly to junior

Micah Young and senior Kenny Valbuena, who each chipped in 12.

“If there’s an open shot, I’ll take it, but early, I try to get guys

like Micah and Kenny involved,” Maldonado said. “Our offense started down

low and worked out so it was important to get those guys involved.”

In the Eagles’ 79-60 loss to the Trojans on Feb. 8, the 6-footer

scored 20 points and dished out 10 assists.

“When he started running the offense, his assists really went up,”

Sorce said. “He went from two assists per game to over six in our last

eight games.”

Maldonado’s knack of assists don’t just apply to basketball. “I really

like to help people in general,” he said. “That’s why I want to get a job

where I can help people all the time.”

With that in mind, Maldonado will be attending Santa Ana College

beginning this fall and enroll in the school’s fire academy.

“At first I wanted to be a police officer, but a fireman sounds even

better,” Maldonado said. “They’re job is to help people and that sounds

perfect to me.”

Whether Maldonado’s basketball career has gone up in smoke is still up

in the air. His fire for hoops still burns pretty hot and the Dons just

might get a diamond in the rough with Maldonado.

“I really want to continue to play and I’ll give it 110% at tryouts

next year,” Maldonado said. “Hopefully, it will work out.”