Coach wants big crowd

As high school boys’ basketball coach, Ryan Schachter knows the importance of a loud, energetic home crowd.

He said he appreciated the Corona del Mar High fans’ spirit when his Sea Kings beat San Marcos of Santa Barbara, 67-48, Friday. But he expects a bigger and louder group tonight. The CdM boys could use the support, as they’ll have their 18-game-winning streak and 6-0 home record on the line against Gahr of Cerritos. Even more important it’s a CIF Southern Section Division III-A quarterfinal game, that tips off at 7.

The Gladiators (24-4), the San Gabriel Valley League champions, are seeded fourth. CdM (24-3), the Pacific Coast League champion, is the No. 5 seed.

“I thought our fans were motivated by [San Marcos’] fans, which is what we’re going to need [tonight],” Schachter said. “Now that we’re in school [as opposed to last week when the students were on ski week], I hope to get 1,000 people there. We are having a rally to pump that up [today]. We’re undefeated at home this year. No matter what this is our last home game of the season. We want to end the season undefeated at home.”

That will be a huge challenge for the Sea Kings.

Schachter knows to watch out for Gahr’s constant pressure on defense. The Gladiators use full-court pressure after missed baskets and made baskets, constantly trying to force turnovers. It’s helped them score 100 or more points in a game three times, and they’ve scored in the 90s on seven other occasions.

CdM is a fast and up-tempo team, but the Gladiators want to use a quicker pace, Schachter said.

“We are definitely going to have to share the ball to relieve the pressure,” he said. “If we get into what they do and commit turnovers, we are going to be in trouble. We need to make them play defense for a long period of time. We can run, too. But we have ? to be judicious about it.”

When the Sea Kings are on defense, they’ll need to keep a close eye on 6-foot-2 junior swingman Davon Potts, who leads the Gladiators with 21.4 points per game.

Gahr also has 5-8 senior Ervin Ware, “a heady point guard, who can shoot the ball,” Schachter said. Ware averages 16.2 points per game, second on the team, and also a team-leading 5.1 assists per game. Senior Charles Nebo Jr., a 6-4 forward, averages 15.6 points per game, and 5-11 sophomore guard Anthony Martinez scores 11.2 points a game.

Juniors Danny Cheek (13.6 ppg), Ramon Mejia (11.8 ppg) and Clayton Ragsdale (11.4 ppg) lead the Sea Kings. Ragsdale also averages 5.7 assists and two steals per game, while Mejia has 2.1 steals per game.

Tonight’s winner will advance to Friday’s semifinals, which will be played at an alternate site against the winner of the Golden Valley-at-Serra game.