CdM rolling into playoffs

Sixteen straight wins is how the Corona del Mar High boys’ basketball team closed out the regular season.

Coach Ryan Schachter said the Sea Kings’ reward was an unfavorable one heading into the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

CdM, Estancia, Sage Hill and Newport Harbor learned of their draws Sunday at the section headquarters in Los Alamitos. Schachter is the lone coach out of four local programs unhappy about his team’s opening-round game on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The day the first round is set also rubbed Schachter the wrong way.

The Sea Kings are one of three Newport-Mesa teams opening the postseason at home. CdM (22-3) plays Diamond Ranch of Pomona (10-15) in Division III-A. Estancia (15-11) plays Lawndale (11-15) in Division IV-AA. And Sage Hill (16-7) plays Cantwell Sacred Heart of Montebello (10-17) in Division V-AA.

Newport Harbor (11-15) is at Mayfair of Lakewood (17-9) in Division II-A.

The Lightning and Sailors return to the postseason after missing it last season. CdM and Estancia advanced last season and their experiences lasted one round.

The Sea Kings are the one local team than can make a run at a section championship. Their opening game won’t be a pushover.

“We can lose in the first round or make a good run,” said Schachter, who led the Sea Kings to their third Pacific Coast League title in his four seasons at the school. “Our division is the deepest and toughest out of [the 12 in the section]. I’d rather be in Division I-AA than our division.

“I’m not happy. We got a very good team in the first round, and for a fifth seed, we shouldn’t have. There [are] lots of draws in other divisions that don’t make sense either.”

The Sea Kings’ road to the title will be a lot more difficult than the one they went through to win the section crown in 2006-07.

The talent is there for CdM — with junior guards Danny Cheek, Ramon Mejia and Clayton Ragsdale — to return to the top. Diamond Ranch will try to upend the Sea Kings.

The Panthers placed third in the competitive Miramonte League, which is home to Bonita and Charter Oak, teams ranked Nos. 8 and 12, respectively, in the final Division III-A coaches’ poll.

Diamond Ranch and CdM have one common opponent: Tustin. The Tillers blew out the Sea Kings and Panthers in December. Since then, the Sea Kings have only lost once, to Foothill, the No. 2 seed in Division III-AA.