Zack Novak

Barry Faulkner

While some guys are tireless workers, Zack Novak is a tireless

player.

A senior guard on the Estancia High boys basketball team, he is

the defensive equivalent of static cling. Ricocheting around and off

screens designed to separate him from his unfortunate victim,

typically the opponent’s most prolific scorer, the pliable 6-foot-2,

150-pound pest relies on comet quickness and the persistence of a pit

bull.

So resolute is his desire to bond with opposing scorers, he

remains unaware of the inevitable physical toll wrought by his

perpetual pursuit.

“I come up with bruises I don’t know how I got,” Novak said.

“ I get tired just watching him,” said Estancia Coach Chris Sorce,

adding, “I’d love to have half of his energy.”

Sorce said he frequently stokes Novak’s competitive fire before

games, which usually entails a request to pare the scoring output of

the player Novak guards to around half his average.

“He likes the challenge,” Sorce said.

Novak answered the challenge last week, performing the featured

role of a box-and-one defense to stymie Santa Ana senior scoring

sensation Brandon McGee in a 69-61 Golden West League road win Feb.

4. Novak then applied himself to Costa Mesa senior scoring leader

Danny Krikorian, as part of a triangle-and-two to help key a 55-39

triumph at the crosstown rival Mustangs’ gym Feb. 6.

McGee, averaging nearly 21 points coming in, scored a season-low

seven against the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week’s pressure, netting

just 3 of 15 field-goal attempts, just 1 of 7 from three-point range.

“He scored 34 the first game against us (including a game-winning

three-pointer at the buzzer in a 64-62 decision Jan. 10), so we

wanted them to have somebody else try to beat us this time,” said

Novak, who chipped in two points, four rebounds, three assists and

two steals.

Two days later, on his 18th birthday, Novak blanketed Krikorian,

who did not get a shot off the first 10:30, hit only two

three-pointers, and finished with 11 points, five below his average.

What’s more, Novak exploded, offensively, pumping in half of his

eight three-point attempts, netting his only field-goal try inside

the arc and converting 6 of 8 foul shots for a career-high 20 points.

Novak, averaging 10.3 points in 11 league games coming into this

week, 8.5 ppg for the season, had nine combined three-pointers in his

first 23 games, before bombing away at the Mustangs.

“He stepped up, offensively, against Costa Mesa,” Sorce said.

“After a couple of his threes, I saw a mild-mannered Zack throwing

his a fist in the air, which is something I’d never seen in my two

years being around him. I think every time he made a three, he was

tasting a different part of the Newport Rib Company menu (a postgame

feast is one of the spoils that goes to the annual crosstown series

winner, which, for the first time in three seasons, was Estancia, by

virtue of a two-game sweep). He was really fired up that night.”

Novak, who termed his birthday basketball bash his greatest

athletic moment, is, perhaps, more than any of his teammates,

appreciative of Estancia basketball history. His older brothers, Ben

and Nick, both played for the Eagles, as Zack faithfully cheered from

the stands.

“I’ve been coming to Estancia games ever since I was in the fourth

grade,” Zack Novak said. “And, ever since that time, I couldn’t wait

to play for the varsity.”

Novak averaged just fewer than three points in his debut varsity

season last year, but quickly established himself as a starter in the

offseason.

“He has been my defensive stopper and he has helped us at the

offensive end, too,” Sorce said. “He surprises people with his

quickness and has become much more of a complete player.”