Point Loma Girls Get Third in Row : Collum Leads 56-50 Victory Over Grant in State Final

When the long day was finally over, and the Point Loma High School girls’ basketball team had wrapped up its third straight State championship Saturday night, Michelle Collum decided it was time for a break.

“The first thing I thought of was thank God it’s all over,” said Collum, the Pointers’ senior forward who scored a game-high 21 points, “and now it’s time for spring break.”

The timing couldn’t be any better. After all, Point Loma’s 56-50 Division I victory over Grant of Sacramento in the Oakland Coliseum Arena was no easy piece of work. And it was a long day.

The Pointers (31-1) started the day early, rising at dawn to catch a 6:40 flight here from San Diego. Once in Oakland, it didn’t get easier.

“I had to argue with the people at the hotel to get us a bus to take us to the game,” Lee Trepanier, the Point Loma coach, said. “And they (the CIF officials) had us staying at a Mickey Mouse hotel to begin with.”

Before the start of the game, there were a couple more delays. Chanelle McCoy, Point Loma’s starting point guard, was told she couldn’t play while wearing a white T-shirt under her uniform.

Then, the players were told they had to tuck in their shirts, even though they are designed to be worn outside.

“That’s a silly rule,” Trepanier said.

Added Collum: “It seemed like we were never going to get to play the game.”

Finally, everything was straightened out. But, once it was, the Pointers started slowly. They got caught up in Grant’s run-and-shoot pace and were badly outrebounded, 32-22, in the first half. Thanks to Collum, who scored all of Point Loma’s 13 points in the first quarter and had 19 by halftime, the Pointers were even, 24-24, at the break.

“At halftime, I told everybody to slow down and work the ball around,” Trepanier said. “We were doing too many things we weren’t supposed to be doing.”

There were more problems ahead, however. The Pointers’ star forward, 6-foot 2-inch Parade All-American Terri Mann picked up her fourth foul just 13 seconds into the second half. Trepanier elected to keep her in the game, however, and the strategy paid off.

“I’ve been in foul trouble a lot this year,” Mann said. “Coach knows that I’ll play smart with four fouls.”

She started to play better, too. After scoring only one point in the first half, Mann ignited a 14-6 Point Loma spurt with a pair of short jumpers and some solid work on the boards.

Three times during the stretch, Mann leaped high for a rebound and fired an outlet pass to McCoy ahead of the field. The speedy 5-2 guard scored on layins to help the Pointers take control.

Grant, which employed a pressure full-court defense throughout the game never did adjust to stop McCoy’s breakaways and Point Loma took advantage with easy baskets.

McCoy, who finished with 20 points--18 in the second half--hit a pair of long jumpers to extend the Pointers’ lead to 51-43 with 2:45 remaining.

“I think it was our man-to-man defense that finally wore them down,” Trepanier said. “Chanelle really came alive in the second half.”

So did Mann. The only junior on a team with four senior starters never did foul out and finished with 13 points and 20 rebounds. And her final basket, with 19 seconds remaining, closed her team’s scoring. It gave Point Loma a 56-48 lead and started a long-awaited celebration on the bench.

“All right guys,” Trepanier said. That’s three.”

Three the hard way, that is.