Winning Is Nice but . . . : Coach of Undefeated Conquerors Thinks a Preseason Defeat or Two Might Do Girls Good

It is not as if Don Holbrook, coach of the Los Altos High girls basketball team, has anything against winning.

After watching his team reach the CIF Southern Section 3-A Division championship game and the state playoffs last season, Holbrook says he is happy to see the Conquerors out to a fast start with an 11-0 record--best in the San Gabriel Valley.

But it’s the undefeated aspect of the team’s record that has the coach concerned.

“The only thing that scares me is that we haven’t lost,” Holbrook said. “I think you need to lose to gain a perspective.”

While Holbrook is hardly going to give any of the wins back, he says there is something to be gained from a well-placed loss or two on a team’s early season record.

“I really believe that as a coach in preseason you like to lose a couple of games in order to get the full attention of your players,” Holbrook said.

“That’s where you gain your experience. You can coach a lot more from a loss than a win.”

The coach remembers the fate of the Edgewood High girls, who won their first 24 games only to lose in the second round of the CIF playoffs last season. “I don’t know what their situation was,” he said, “but you would hope we could avoid having that kind of thing happen.”

Considering that Los Altos was 20-4 last season and has three starters returning, the early success of the Conquerors is not altogether surprising. Los Altos was ranked No. 3--behind Palos Verdes and Muir--in the preseason CIF 4-A poll.

Only Holbrook said he had his questions about the Conquerors at the start of the season.

“We thought we’d be decent because we had some good players back, but we still had some holes to fill,” he said.

Most important were at the wing positions where Los Altos lost both of its starters from last season, including guard Susan Susseov, second-team All-CIF 3-A selection as a senior.

Fortunately, the Conquerors have found ample replacements in senior Noreen Fukute (5-6) and sophomore Natasha Susseov (5-6), Susan’s sister. The coach said the younger Susseov has made good progress.

“She doesn’t shoot real well yet,” he said, “but she’s aggressive and that’s what we need.”

Holbrook was also concerned about the team’s ball handling and outside shooting at the start of the season and said he has seen improvement in both departments.

“We’ve come along in those two areas and we’ve always had the defense,” he said. “We’re not blowing people away, but if you look at our scores you can see we’re holding people to about 40 points, which is what we need to do to be successful.”

Not to mention the play of the returning starters, which has been as steady as expected.

Leading the way is 5-11 senior Susan Peters, who averaged 25.4 points and 12 rebounds and was a first-team All-CIF 3-A selection last season. Holbrook said Peters may have started the season a little slowly after playing for the Los Altos volleyball team, where she earned All-CIF honors as a senior.

She also had to adjust to being more of a center of attention for Conqueror opponents this season. “The big thing teams are doing is doubling up on her to try to stop her,” he said.

But he said Peters has been having more success lately in improving her average to 22.6 points--including 36 points against Boulder City of Nevada in the consolation final of the Chino tournament in the team’s last game in December--and 12.7 rebounds.

“She’s been concentrating on volleyball,” Holbrook said. “That’s her sport. But she’s beginning to play to her level now.”

The other returning starters are 5-11 senior Jonna Steffens, who teams with Peters in the twin-post offense, and point guard Staci Louie (5-4). Steffens is averaging 10.5 points and 9.9 rebounds, and Louie, the floor leader, is leading in assists at 4.6.

The coach said Louie has been the biggest surprise. “She’s really stepped in and turned it on for us. The big thing is she doesn’t make many mistakes.”

With no starter taller than 5-11, the Conquerors are not the biggest team in the valley. However, Holbrook said his biggest concern has been the team’s outside shooting.

“If I had better shooters, I’d be a little happier right now,” he said. “We’re doing things to compensate for it, but I wish we didn’t have to.”

Still, Holbrook has to be happy with the results that his team has produced. The Conquerors opened the season by winning the Wilson and St. Lucy’s tournaments before settling for the consolation title at Chino.

Los Altos may have been in position for three tournament titles if not for a scheduling error that forced the Conquerors to send their junior varsity into the first round of the Chino tournament. The Conquerors were playing in the final of the St. Lucy’s tournament and, under Southern Section rules, a team cannot play in two tournaments in the same day.

That has allowed the Conquerors to keep their perfect record intact, although Holbrook said his team’s record does not necessarily mean Los Altos is stronger than it was last year.

“I don’t think we’re as good as last year’s team but we’re finally playing at the level that I think we can,” he said. “As a group we feel like we’re not as talented, but we’re more efficient in getting the job done.”

So while Holbrook says he is happy with the team’s success, he is not about to get carried away. Not with a difficult Sierra League season.

“These early games are preseason games,” he said, “win or lose, they’re not that important except that we have to get up to a certain level.”

The coach said it is more important for his team to show what it can do later in the season.

“We want to win our league title and go far in the CIF (playoffs),” he said. “It doesn’t matter what our record is.”