Making Rank : Muir High Girls Aim to Claim Southern Section Title

Not much has changed with the girls basketball program at Muir High the past three years.

Not on the surface, anyway.

The Mustangs are still a Southern Section powerhouse, they still have the imposing presence of the Jordan twins, 6-3 Pauline and 6-2 Geannine, on their front line, and their losses are still about as rare as a summer rainstorm in Los Angeles.

There is one recognizable difference.

The Mustangs are receiving more recognition.

Not that winning 50 of 53 games over the last two years went unnoticed. The Mustangs were listed near the top of the Southern Section and state rankings both seasons.

But Muir had to take a back seat to perennial powerhouses Buena in 1984 and Compton in 1985.

This season, the final year for the Jordan sisters at Muir, the Mustangs have finally risen to national prominence.

With an 18-0 record against some of the top teams in the nation, Muir is ranked No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports News of San Jose and No. 2 in the nation behind Woodson High of Washington, D. C., by USA Today.

And Coach Archie Newton thinks his team has a legitimate claim to the No. 1 position since it easily defeated two rated teams--Point Loma of San Diego and Christ the King of New York City--in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions in December.

Christ the King was then ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today.

“If they were rated No. 1 and 2 and we beat them,” Newton added, “I think it’s deserving for us to be No. 1.”

But whether the Mustangs are ranked No. 1 or 2, they can certify that they are perched in the high-rent district of the national girls basketball scene.

It does not take Newton long to figure out why. It starts with the Jordan sisters, who have led the Mustangs to an 88-5 record in four years as starters. The twins are leading Muir in scoring and rebounding. Pauline scored a career high 45 points and had 19 rebounds in Muir’s 88-46 victory over Hoover last week.

“Much of the success has to do with the twins,” Newton said. “They’re seniors now and they’re heavily recruited and they could easily have an attitude problem. But they don’t. They’re out there every day in practice and games setting examples and working hard.

“It’s very difficult to imagine life around here without the twins.”

Newton, who has coached the Mustangs the last two years and was an assistant the year before that, said the difference may be the supporting cast that includes 6-3 sophomore forward Tasha Bradley, 5-10 senior swing player Kelly Jones, 5-10 sophomore guard Angie Grant and 5-4 senior guard Jami Edwards.

With Bradley in the starting lineup, Muir has a front line that is taller than many top college teams.

“I feel that this is the best team we’ve ever had here,” Newton said. “The twins are better, Tasha Bradley has improved and Angie Grant gives us the speed we didn’t have a year ago.”

“For most of us there has been a mental maturity that we’ve developed over the last two years,” Jones said. “I had to mature, Tasha had to mature and we’ve all come along in terms of our mental approach toward the game.”

More than that, Pauline Jordan says that this year’s team is the most close-knit squad she has played for at Muir.

“The last two teams had a few differences of opinion off the court. But this year we’re very close on and off the court,” Pauline Jordon said.

Added Jones, “We’re all like sisters. It’s not just the twins. It’s like a whole family.”

Maybe that explains why Newton says this is also the hardest-working team he has coached.

“We sat down together after the season last spring and everyone made a commitment that we would work very hard this year. They’ve worked hard in the off-season, we had a good summer and the weight program has been efficient,” Newton said.