PREP BASKETBALL : PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE : Hamamoto Takes His Time While Rebuilding Rancho Alamitos Girls’ Basketball

When Eric Hamamoto became the girls’ basketball coach at Rancho Alamitos High School in 1986, one of the first things he did was refurbish the team’s meeting room.

The small, windowless chamber just off the Vaqueros’ gym was a shambles with a sickening variety of paint and a dingy odor.

So the new coach stripped down the room he had inherited and started from scratch.

He did much the same with the shambles of a team he had inherited, one that had never had a winning season and had not won a game in two seasons.

The Vaqueros (17-2 overall, 9-2 in the Garden Grove League) are not ranked in any polls, but it’s possible they could finish second in the league and reach the Southern Section playoffs for the first time in 16 years of girls’ basketball at the school.

Rancho Alamitos’ only losses came to league rival La Quinta, the seventh-ranked team in the county.

“My first year, I just went around the school and asked the teachers to give me any girls who could walk straight,” Hamamoto said. “I tried to keep all the girls I recruited together rather than putting some of the better players on varsity. I’d rather have them come into varsity with some confidence. That first year, I said, ‘Let’s just get through this.’ ”

So with three returning players, and about 20 recruits, Hamamoto created two teams. The varsity team went 0-17 in 1986-87, but the program was on its way.

“I took a look at what we had and said, ‘Let’s try to instill a tradition of hard work and a tradition of taking pride in ourselves.’ ”

In 1987-88, the core of this year’s team moved to the varsity, which finished 10-10, 8-6.

This season’s team doesn’t have the shooting ability of Brea-Olinda or the height of La Habra. The Vaqueros rely on a fast-paced offense built around small, quick guard Christy Kalbhenn and steady shooting forward Jenny Newsome.

“We run the ball much of the game,” said Kalbhenn, a 5-foot senior who averages 17 points a game. “We win because we are in better shape than the other teams.”

Newsome, a 5-8 junior, leads Rancho Alamitos in nearly every offensive category, including scoring average (19) and rebounds per game (17).

“We don’t have great athletes at our school,” Hamamoto said. “There’s no tradition of any kind of program here, so we just have to work hard to be competitive.”

Hamamoto not only emphasizes hard work on the court, but also in the classroom. This year’s team has a 3.4 grade-point average, Hamamoto said.

Besides holding practice six days a week, Hamamoto also holds a study hall for anyone getting a grade lower than a B.

“When they have problems in the classroom, they not only deal with the teacher but they have to deal with me,” Hamamoto said.

But all the time and hard work is worth it to the players.

“We never had any respect whatsoever,” said Frances Barba, a senior guard. “The only good part was that you didn’t have to be scared because you knew you were going to lose.

“You didn’t have to be technical. We just had fun. Now it’s fun because it’s scary because people are always after you. That’s a wonderful feeling.”

It seems no team will catch Rancho Alamitos for second place. Kennedy is in third, two games behind with two to play.

The Vaqueros have not been mathematically eliminated from the league championship either. La Quinta, led by Amy Jalewalia, the county’s leading scorer, is two games ahead with three to play.

“Our girls have a thing about La Quinta,” Hamamoto said. “The closest we have come to beating them (before this season) was 42 points.

“It makes it tough when that is the tradition. Mentally, the stigma is very hard to get over.

“In the first game this season, we made 22 turnovers which led directly to 39 of their points. In the second game, we had fewer turnovers than them, we had more rebounds than they did, we took more shots but the ball didn’t go in the basket.” La Quinta beat Rancho Alamitos, 66-47 and 68-51.

But Rancho Alamitos is through with La Quinta for the regular season and is more concerned about the Southern Section playoffs.

“Mentally, the girls are ready for any challenge right now,” Hamamoto said. “I’m very optimistic of us going into CIF (Southern Section playoffs) and doing well.

“If the ball doesn’t go into the basket or someone gets hurt, that’s something I have no control over. But I know the intensity will be there. If we play our game, we should be there.”