Girls’ basketball: Slumming in Mission Viejo turns up a familiar face

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It took a couple of seconds for Pete Belanto to recognize me.

‘What are you doing here,’ the Trabuco Hills coach asked.

‘Slumming,’ I answered.

Trabuco Hills was getting ready to play No. 19 Foothill in a Sea View League game. Belanto used to coach Capistrano Valley, but resigned a few years ago to spend time with his family. Now, his wife wants him out of the house, he said. Knowing Belanto a little bit, I can understand why.

This is a reclamation project for the veteran coach. Trabuco is 12-11 overall, but 0-7 in the Sea View League. The Mustangs have lost 28 consecutive league games, and its best player is a freshman, point guard Erin Butler.

‘They had four coaches in five years, and I think they wanted someone with a track record,’ Belanto said. ‘Everybody was a first- or second-year coach. They haven’t won here in years.’

Belanto certainly has a track record, and after a long pause claimed he was indeed having a good time ‘once I got through all the parent stuff.’

Ah, the parent stuff. If they stay out of his way, he can get the program turned around. He’s too experienced, too jaded, and too tough to be pushed around and run off like the coaches before him. And, since the school is five minutes from his home, I don’t think he’s going anywhere.

That is a key for the Trabuco Hills talent pool: He’s not going anywhere.

‘A lot of kids have gone to El Toro and Mission Viejo,’ Belanto said. ‘We just have to keep our kids here. Erin lives here and JSerra was hot after her, but she stayed.

‘That’s the thing with our football program. They kept their kids here and they didn’t all go to Mission Viejo. We just have to have a a little success, and hopefully we can keep our kids here.’

The football team reached a Southern Section division final this season. The girls’ basketball team has a long way to go to match that. But they did win a tournament, the first-ever, Belanto said, ‘but I’m not even going to tell you which one.’

He relented. The Oxford Academy tournament.

Well, the rise from the ashes must start somewhere.

-- Martin Henderson