DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

Kyle Caldwell hung on the rim, like King Kong on the Empire State Building.

He earned the right well before dunking. On his way to a record night, the 6-foot-9 Newport Harbor High center didn’t let go of the rim until those below scattered.

“I didn’t want [to get hurt],” he said. “Or hurt them.”

Caldwell already had, so many times that those Marina fans, clad in white T-shirts, could’ve made more use of their shirts by throwing them on the court.

At least they’d have a shot at an autograph from Caldwell.

Against a team that runs up and down the basketball court to shoot three-pointers, Caldwell kept up. Sure Marina hit 17 threes and Caldwell none.

But his 47 points offset whatever Marina did, as the senior set the school’s single-game scoring mark in the Sailors’ 81-71 Sunset League victory last Friday.

“I loved it,” Caldwell said of the atmosphere created by the host fans, especially the section dubbing itself “3-point Nation.”

The fans badgered Caldwell, the biggest player on the floor, who also had the biggest rebounding total (20).

Against a team with a bunch of 5-foot-9, 160-pound guards, Caldwell looked as if he were on “The Biggest Loser” with having to constantly sprint from one end to the other. Not that Caldwell needs to shed pounds. He’s a lean 220 pounds and the go-to guy at Newport Harbor (12-9, 2-3 in league).

Still, for a big man, Caldwell showed how well in shape he’s in when he broke the Sailors’ previous record of 43 points in a game set by Justin McIntee during the 1991-92 season.

“I think [what’s] pretty amazing is the fact that he takes the ball out of bounds for us, which means he’s the last guy down the court,” Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst said. “In an up-tempo game, that’s usually not very conducive for getting shot attempts.”

“The fact that he could get that many points without shooting any threes is a tribute to his teammates getting him the ball and him getting down the floor as many times as humanly possible in that tempo of a game.”

Caldwell isn’t one to lag behind, one reason he said he’s been nominated to play in the McDonald’s All-American game in Milwaukee on March 26. Big news for someone headed to UCLA to play volleyball.

As much as he’s talented, averaging 21.4 points and 12.1 rebounds per game, both Newport-Mesa bests, to go with 5.8 assists per game, Hirst credits Caldwell’s work ethic. For this, Hirst calls Caldwell one of his top five players in his 13 years at Newport Harbor.

The praise comes from everywhere, his peers to old-school fans who remember his late grandfather, George Yardley, a Hall of Fame basketball player, who became the first NBA player to score 2,000 points in a season in 1957-58.

Even the opposition gives Caldwell props. Esperanza Coach Jason Pietsch named Caldwell the best player in the competitive Sunset League. This after the Aztecs on Jan. 4 hammered away at Caldwell, forcing him afterward to the emergency room at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian with a gash near his left eye, a cut below his right knee and a busted lip.

“I was kind of upset about that,” said Caldwell, adding what hurt more was seeing Esperanza win the league opener, 56-46, that night. “It’s not fun. I got my eye super-glued shut. It looked OK [before the hospital visit]. But I’m glad that I did [go] because now it feels fine.

“If I would’ve left it, it still would’ve been scabbing up and it still would’ve been [susceptible to] bleeding.”

That might change tonight as Esperanza is at Newport Harbor. With the second half of league starting and the Aztecs (14-8, 4-1) in second place, this should be another battle. Caldwell said he’s ready to face the Aztecs’ big men, 6-5 Kyle Pascual and 6-6 Lloyd Birtles, again.

“It’s their game plan. They can do whatever they want. If they want to get their guys fouled out, that’s their issue,” said Caldwell, referring to Pietsch instructing Pascual and Birtles to use their five fouls on Caldwell in the last meeting. “If they’re going to play physical, you just kind of have to accept the fact that they’re going to play physical. You just got to deal with it and work around it.

“I’ll have a little chip on my shoulder just remembering last time.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].