GIRLS : PREP BASKETBALL PREVIEW: SOUTHERN SECTION : Nowhere to Hide : Lynwood Won’t Sneak Up on Anybody This Time Around After Winning 4-A Title in Big Upset of Unbeaten Muir Last Season

The big gym’s architecture is early airplane hangar, the lighting late-night pool hall.

But the basketball court is the standard 94 by 50 feet, even if the floor is not wood but something more like slippery linoleum.

Well, the baskets are 10 feet. OK, one is. The other hoop is bent down a little, the result of one dunk too many.

Still, the gym is home to the Lynwood High School girls’ basketball team, even though it is about a mile away from campus at the Lynwood Adventist Academy. Lynwood, the Southern Section 4-A champion, was just one of the tenants on a recent afternoon, however.

A group of boys from the Academy was playing a pick-up basketball game on one of the four courts. Another group shot at a goalie in a floor hockey game and soon their red puck came rolling through Lynwood’s practice. Past them, the Academy cheerleaders were practicing their routines. Loudly.

Ever since vandals turned on a hose on the Lynwood gym and ruined the floor, the Knights have endured such distractions while at working out at the Academy.

This is no place for the defending 4-A champions, though. Last March, the Knights won by toppling a Pasadena Muir juggernaut that was then the top-ranked team in the country.

And this is their reward? What’s a team to do?

Nothing.

Coach Van Girard would rather keep the Knights under wraps in the dim light of the cavernous gym. Such anonymity suits the Knights just fine.

Here, they are merely undistinguished guests.

“I honestly think Muir underestimated us,” Girard said. And so did a number of others as Lynwood finished its season 28-5 and was a state tournament semifinalist.

“The funny thing is, I didn’t think last year’s team was my best,” said Girard, who has coached at Lynwood for nine seasons. “Not as good as the 1982 team.

“In fact, I think we’ve won 20 games for the past five straight years.”

In any event, the word is out on Lynwood. No longer can the Knights rely on their lack of height and experience to lure opponents into a false sense of security.

Beating Muir changed all that.

Cal-Hi Sports newsletter has the Knights rated first in the state in its preseason poll. Lynwood also is the top-ranked 4-A team in the Southern Section’s preseason rankings.

The Knights won’t be able to hide in the Academy gym forever, and Trise Jackson, the Knights’ best player and leading scorer, knows this.

“They’re going to be after us, “ said Jackson, a 5-foot 7-inch junior guard. “We’ve got to be prepared all the time.”

Aside from Lynwood’s new-found attention, little has changed. The Knights are still young and still small.

Of the 11 Knights, 8 are juniors and another is a freshman. Only one player is taller than 6-feet.

But they also are as good as, if not better than, last season. Led by Jackson, the Knights feature a quick, good shooting and rebounding team.

Jackson, who averaged 18.7 points a game, is the epitome of the Knight players. She is a deft dribbler with a quick first step to the basket that frees her to shoot.

Cal-Hi Sports named her one of the top five players in the state.

LaTasha Causey, another speedy guard, also is a junior. Last season, Causey averaged 8 points and 8 rebounds.

Up front, Kim Bivins, a 6-2 junior center, and forward Antoinette White, a 5-10 senior, have replaced departed seniors Shurrell Johnson and Faye Sherrard. Johnson, now playing at UC Irvine, averaged 15.4 points and 15 rebounds last season.

“There are times when Bivins just shines,” Girard said. “(White) is a good volleyball player. She spends 90% of her time playing volleyball and 10% playing basketball. If I could somehow reverse that, she’d be awesome.”

Linda Watson, a 5-9 freshman, is a newcomer to this group and Girard is predicting big things for her. “By the time she’s a senior, she could be one of the best on the West Coast,” he said.

Guard Candence Boyd, another junior, also is a top player for Girard.

“This year, we’re stronger and a little bigger,” Girard said. “We’ve got some of the best guards around. We can rotate 8 or 9 players without much of a drop-off.”

There won’t be a drop-off in the attention paid the Knights either. No matter how much Lynwood tries to avoid it in the Academy gym, the spotlight will be on the Knights this season.

Here is The Times’ preseason top 10 with last season’s records.

1. Lynwood (28-5)--The Knights won the 4-A championship with a group of sophomores and juniors. This season, the Knights are still young. Of the 11 varsity players, 8 are juniors and 1 is a freshman. Lynwood is the top-ranked team in the state by Cal-Hi Sports magazine.

2. Ventura Buena (25-1)--Teresa Palmisano, a 6-1 senior forward, averaged 18.7 points and 12.3 rebounds for the Bulldogs last season. Palmisano, twice named to the All-Southern Section first team, helped Buena to the 4-A semifinal round last season and is a big reason the Bulldogs will contend for the title this season. Joe Vaughan, Buena coach, also has two good guards in Becky Sievers, a 5-10 senior, and Mary Klemm, a 5-7 junior. Buena will play host to Lynwood Dec. 20.

3. Brea-Olinda (27-4)--The Wildcats, a 3-A team, are ranked third in the state by Cal-Hi Sports. Brea has almost the same team as the one that won the 3-A title in March. Heading the team for Coach Mark Trakh is guard Carrie Egan, who averaged 18 points a game. Also, starters Kristin McPhee, a 6-1 senior forward, and Susan Tousey, a 6-0 junior center, scored in double figures last season. Newcomers include Therese Cross, a 5-5 guard, who was an all-area player in Utah last season. Tammy Blackburn, another guard, is thought to one of the top freshmen in the Southern Section.

4. Inglewood Morningside (21-6)--The Monarchs have three good players and a solid bench to back them. Guard Tia Thomas is the top senior on a young team. Thomas, 5-4, averaged 20 points last season. Leading scorer Shaundra Greene, a 5-11 junior forward, gives Morningside size up front. Greene averaged 22 points and 18 rebounds last season. Carla Gladden, a point guard who averaged 19 points, runs the Monarch offense. Rebe Dabney and Lisa Leslie, a 6-4 freshman, provide added punch.

5. Woodland Hills Louisville (25-5)--Another 3-A team, the Royals have center Andrea Knapp, who has signed with Cal. A 6-2 senior center, Knapp averaged 22.1 points last season. Cal-Hi Sports lists Knapp as one of the state’s top forwards. Lynn Flanagan, a 5-8 senior forward, chipped in with 15.4 points. Coach Brian O’Hara’s team could give Brea-Olinda a battle for the 3-A championship. Louisville is ranked fourth in the state.

6. Cerritos Gahr (26-5)--When asked about teams that worry Lynwood Coach Van Girard, the first that comes to his mind is Gahr. The Gladiators and the Knights play in the San Gabriel Valley League and are big rivals. One of the key players for Gahr is Molly Wampler, a 6-1 senior forward. She led the Gladiators in scoring with a 22-point average and also had 10 rebounds a game. Wampler is one of Cal-Hi Sports’ top five players in the state. The keys for Gahr are point guard Cheryl Humphreys, who gets the ball to Wampler, and the development of its other starters.

7. Compton (21-6)--Mandy Hannah is the key to the Tarbabes’ success. A 5-11 senior, Hannah averaged 17.5 points and is thought to be one of the top players in the state. Coach Carolyn Montgomery, whose team won the 4-A title two years ago, consistently has Compton among the top 10. Sharon Hargrove and Kim Watson scored in double figures for the Tarbabes last season.

8. Huntington Beach Edison (21-7)--The Chargers have had two returning starting guards for years it seems. But now Michelle Hennessey and Denise Ogburn have experienced teammates. Hennessey, who averaged 11 points a game, and Ogburn, who averaged 15, are joined by Kristi Smith, a transfer center from Elsinore. Smith averaged 22 points and 16 rebounds last season. And with Stacee Johnson, an all-league forward, the Chargers could wrest control of the Sunset League away from challengers Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach Ocean View. However, Edison might get off to a slow start since Coach Dave White was coaching the football team until the Chargers lost in the playoffs recently.

9. Chino (31-2)--The Cowboys won the 2-A title last season over Lompoc. Four players who played on that championship team are back for Coach Joe Murillo. Leading the way, will be Stephanie Dykstra, who averaged 17 points a game last season. Also back are Aggie Moons, Jeannine Jones, who averaged 14 points, and Carnel Watts, all of whom started last season.

10. Pasadena Muir (29-1)--The Mustangs turned the Southern Section on end last season by becoming the top-ranked team in the country according to USA Today. The Jordan sisters, Geaninne and Pauline, the main cogs in that team, have graduated and are at Nevada Las Vegas. With the Jordan sisters dominating the middle, Muir rolled up a 112-6 record and three straight 4-A championship game appearances. All is not lost for Coach Archie Newton, however. Tasha Bradley, a 6-3 junior forward, will be free to roam the middle with the Jordans gone. Bradley had 10 points and 11 rebounds a game as a member of the supporting cast. Kris Collins and Holly Jones, both 5-10 juniors, will give Bradley help.

Times’ Preseason Top 10

SOUTHERN SECTION No. School, League ‘85-86 Record

1. Lynwood, San Gabriel Valley 28-5

2. Buena, Channel 25-1

3. Brea-Olinda, Orange 27-4

4. Morningside, Pioneer 21-6

5. Louisville, San Fernando Valley 25-5

6. Gahr, San Gabriel Valley 26-5

7. Compton, Moore 21-6

8. Edison, Sunset 21-7

9. Chino, Hacienda 31-2

10. Muir, Pacific 29-1