Pirates off and running

Bryce Alderton

Orange Coast College men’s basketball coach Steve Spencer’s heart has

beat a little faster every time the opposing team moves the ball a

bit closer to the basket this season.

The Pirates, once again, aren’t a tall team, so they will need to

rely on speed and quick hands to prevent entry passes before they

even materialize.

Mission accomplished in the first five games for the Pirates, who

have jumped out to a 4-1 start as of Thursday, a year after going

6-20.

A big part of the Bucs’ early-season success has centered on

turnovers, or lack thereof, in their case.

The Pirates, who feature only two returners who saw playing time

last season, hold a plus-8 advantage in turnovers through the first

five games.

Opponents average 25 turnovers a game against a Bucs’ defense

predicated on a full-court press.

“Everyone is flying around, trapping, rotating and causing

problems away from the basketball,” said Spencer, who begins his

fourth year at the helm. “Some guys are fairly athletic and are doing

a really good job executing and working together as a team. People

are covering each other’s backs at the end of games.

“We’ve been outrebounded (224-166) and outshot a bit, but we’ve

been able to overcome that by causing a lot of turnovers.”

The staunch defense has, in turn, led to strong finishes.

Freshman Reggie Brown, who leads the Pirates with 13.8 points per

game thus far, has hit clutch shots down the stretch in victories

over Cerritos and Mira Costa.

“[The Pirates] have been better off the last four or five minutes

of games than at any other point during the game,” Spencer said.

Freshman Lance Ortiz, a 5-foot-11 guard from Mission Viejo High,

ranks second on the Pirates in scoring with 10.4 points a contest.

Ortiz and sophomore forward Dave Seifert are the only Pirates to

start all five games.

Seifert and Joel Chester, a 6-4 forward out of Orange Lutheran,

are Coast’s two returners.

Spencer said he regularly rotates 10 players into a game. He

highlighted the contributions of Craig Williams (3.8 ppg), Blake

Winterscheidt, Rick Hatsushi (a Costa Mesa High product) and Steve

Mendoza (4.0 ppg).

Sophomore guard Alfonso James has also impressed in the early

going, averaging 9.4 points and a team-leading 3.4 assists per game.

James, who hails from heralded Canyon Springs High in Moreno Valley,

helped the Bucs finish second in the Neil Edwards Thanksgiving

Holiday Classic at Citrus College while earning all-tournament

accolades.

Coast had defending state champion Compton on the ropes in the

championship game, taking a 45-35 lead. But Compton used a 19-1 run

in the second half to pull away.

“We had a chance to win that game, but I still thought we made

good progress,” said Spencer, who has also been encouraged by the

play of freshman forward Matt Davis, from Mater Dei. Davis is the

Bucs’ tallest player at 6-6.

“[Davis] didn’t play his senior year [at Mater Dei], but has a

chance to be a very good player,” Spencer said. “He can block shots,

which adds another dimension we haven’t had in my four years here.”

Davis led the Bucs through the first five games in rebounds per

contest (5.2) and in total blocks (nine).

The Pirates also feature 5-8 freshman guard Mykel Valentine,

another Mission Viejo product, along with 6-4 freshman guard/forward

Corey Colteaux, 5-11 freshman guard Vilakone Visaychack (Bolsa

Grande), and 5-11 freshman guard Chase Cameron, a former two-year

starter and first-team All-Sea View League selection his senior year

at Newport Harbor.

Cameron has played limited minutes in one game thus far as of

Thursday, but Spencer expects him to compete for a spot in the

rotation.

“He’s a great team guy,” Spencer said of Cameron. “He always

pushes [the starters].”

Despite the wealth of newcomers, Spencer said players have adapted

to one another and are working toward similar goals, something

lacking for most of last season.

“It was one of those snake-bit years,” Spencer said. “We had some

chemistry issues and guys who weren’t willing to accept their roles.

And, our starting center and point guard both quit. Those were two

guys we were trying to rely on who didn’t want to get done what the

coaching staff wanted to get done. They were jumping off the ship. If

there was a way to not get it done, we did it.

“But we were competitive. The win-loss record was not indicative

of the way we played. Our average losses were by four points. The

guys hung in there and played hard, trying to buy in to what we do.”

Spencer has also praised the effort of this season’s edition,

which concludes December with three tournaments before opening Orange

Empire Conference play against Saddleback, the top-ranked team in the

state in a preseason coaches’ poll, Jan. 5.

Spencer expects a fierce battle between several teams once OEC

play begins.

“Irvine Valley has good point-guard play, they have [height], and

they are quicker,” Spencer said. “[The Gauchos] -- one through 10 --

are the strongest in my four years [at OCC].”

Spencer also said Fullerton, Santa Ana, Cypress, Riverside and

Golden West are all talented.

“There are no bad teams. This is going to be a dogfight,” Spencer

said.

Spencer left little doubt where the goal of this year’s squad

lies.

“Every year you go in looking to win a conference championship,

that is what everybody is shooting for,” Spencer said. “But obviously

you have to take steps. We want to make the [Souther California

regional] playoffs.”

The steps, thus far, are headed into the right direction.