Daily Pilot High School Athlete of the Week

There was a time when it would take much less than an elbow, or a hip to the stomach to knock Kassie Stratton off her game.

Not so long ago, a couple errant three-pointers, or maybe a silly turnover, would be enough for the Estancia High junior to drop her chin, figuratively tuck her tail, and simply mope through the motions.

But as recent Estancia opponents have found, those days are over.

Just two weeks ago, Stratton showed up to practice a different player, Estancia Co-Coach Xavier Castellano said.

“It was after we lost [74-32 on Dec. 7 at a tournament in Fountain Valley] that she changed right then and there,” Castellano said. “She is a funny kid who likes to laugh and have fun. But she came to practice the next day and she was all business.”

And business has been good.

Stratton scored a career-high 48 points in a nonleague win at Bolsa Grande on Dec. 16. She scored 20 points in a nonleague loss to Buena Park two days before that, and dropped 28 points on Orange in a 47-39 nonleague home win on Thursday.

For her efforts, Stratton is the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week.

Those efforts include more than defense, said Castellano, who with point guard Erika Soto likely out for the season with a torn right meniscus, credits Stratton for supplying valuable leadership, as well as other elements to her game that have helped the Eagles (5-6) hover around .500.

“She’s been scoring a lot, but defensively is where she helps us the most,” said Castellano, who along with Co-Coach Judd Fryslie shifted the 5-foot-10 Stratton from the front of the Eagles’ full-court press to Soto’s former spot as rover in the back of the press.

“She’s willing to go get rebounds, dive on the floor for a loose ball, and she plays hurt,” Castellano said. “She kind of gets killed out there. In the last couple games, she has been elbowed in the face and hit in the stomach. If that happened last year, it would have affected her. This year, it makes her play harder.”

Castellano said during her 48-point game, watching Stratton was as much a study in determination as an exhibition of basketball skill.

“You just knew she wasn’t going to be stopped,” Castellano said. “She was calling for the ball and her teammates were looking for her, because they knew she was going to put us on her back. Her teammates knew how hard she was playing and how badly she wanted it.”