FIREPOWER AT LA QUINTA : Jalewalia Scores, Rebounds--and Passes the News Too

Need a couple of points? Amy Jalewalia will score them. Inside or out, layup or jump shot, off the dribble or off the pass, La Quinta High School’s versatile basketball player can score.

Need three points? No sweat. Jalewalia has made 27 of 52 three-point shots this season.

Need the results of the game phoned to the local paper? Jalewalia does that too, but she draws the line at picking up shirts from the laundry. She is too busy taking opponents to the cleaners.

Jalewalia, a 6-foot-3, 130-pound junior, leads the Southern Section in scoring with a 31.2-point average. She gives new meaning to the term triple-threat , having played guard, forward and center. She is an obvious choice, with some consideration to Brea-Olinda’s Aimee McDaniel, to succeed Katella’s Joni Easterly as the premier girls’ basketball player in Orange County next season.

She leads her team in every statistical category, including assists (4.5 per game) and rebounds (13), and helped La Quinta (21-3 overall, 14-0 in league play) capture its eighth consecutive Garden Grove League title and win its 40th consecutive league game. The Aztecs are ranked third in the Southern Section 3-A.

And while her coach, Kevin Kiernan, is busy doubling as a boys’ varsity assistant, she phones results, including her statistics, to the newspapers.

The Garden Grove League is not exactly the hotbed of Orange County girls’ basketball and that accounts, in part, for Jalewalia’s scoring dominance. But it would be a mistake to think that’s the primary reason.

Jalewalia plays on a team with no senior starters. When she scores, much of the time she does it on her own. (After Jalewalia, the team’s assist leader is Lucy Wong with 3.7 a game.)

“She creates so much on her own off steals, off the press, she pulls up for jump shots,” Kiernan said. “If we had a true point guard who pushed it up the floor and could distribute the ball a little better, it would be scary how many baskets Amy could score.”

It’s downright frightening for Garden Grove League opponents to know she has her senior season left to play, especially considering the strides she has made each season.

She was a part-time starter as a freshman. She spent the month of December in India attending a cousin’s wedding and visiting relatives. When she returned, she injured her left knee. She recovered but was sidelined again with a stress fracture in her foot, which kept her out of the Aztecs’ quarterfinal playoff loss.

As a sophomore, Jalewalia averaged about 13 points a game and was voted the Aztecs’ most improved player.

She has more than doubled her offensive production this season, proving herself worthy of the most improved plaque she won last year. She keeps that and her other basketball memorabilia in her room. The collection includes team pictures, trophies, a poster of Michael Jordan--”because he is a cool player”--a piece of a Rancho Alamitos jersey, the Aztecs’ toughest competitor in league play; and a bumper sticker for Louisiana Tech that reads: “Lady Techsters, National Champs Again.”

She picked up the sticker at the university while playing for an Amateur Athletic Union basketball team.

“When we went to Louisiana, the teams were really good,” she said. “It made me think you’ve really got to work hard because there are a lot of better players out there.”

Her intent to become a complete player has Jalewalia focusing on aspects other than scoring. And considering she would rather pass than shoot, her offensive accomplishments are all the more phenomenal.

“I would prefer it if we had more balanced scoring,” Jalewalia said. “It would take a lot of pressure off me and give the team a bigger boost.

“Once I get out of high school, I know I am not going to be scoring like this. You’ve got to prove yourself as a defensive player too. I don’t know, I just try not to concentrate on just score, score, score. If the scoring comes, good. But I would like to just get back to defense.”

Kiernan has her working on improving her intensity and developing the “innate toughness” he sees reflected in the eyes of players such as Easterly and McDaniel.

“I think a lot of this comes easy to her,” Kiernan said. “You watch her play and it is just so easy. She uses the left hand, she uses the right hand, she just moves so well, and sometimes the level of the game drops and she can get by playing half speed.”

Jalewalia started playing basketball with her mother, Sharon, who played some as a 5-7 forward at Marylhurst College in Oregon.

“Basketball was my favorite sport when I grew up, so it was my interest to teach her,” Sharon Jalewalia said. She began by taking Amy to watch Deepak, Amy’s older brother, play in recreation games.

“She and I used to go and shoot around and just have fun at the park. Her brother played a lot of sports and I used to take her along. During halftime or warmups, I used to throw her the ball.”

Amy’s father, Gurpreet, is from India. Amy is short for Amardeep, which means “always the source of light” in Punjabi.

With an inexperienced and untested team heading into the pressure of the playoffs, Kiernan is looking to Jalewalia to light it up. He also wants to keep things light.

“Last year we went in real tight and just played not to lose,” said Kiernan, whose team was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs and finished 22-4. “This year we’re going to have some fun in the playoffs.

“And when you’ve got a player like Amy, you never know. You’ve always got a shot.”JALEWALIA BY GAME

Date Opponent Pts Dec. 2 University 22 Dec. 3 Santa Margarita 21 Dec. 4 Ganesha 20 Dec. 6 San Clemente 16 Dec. 10 Orange 32 Dec. 15 Santa Ana Valley 26 Dec. 17 Cerritos 25 Dec. 21 El Modena 48 Dec. 22 Westminster 35 Dec. 23 North Salinas 23 Jan. 4 Rancho Alamitos 25 Jan. 6 Kennedy 45 Jan. 9 Bolsa Grande 41 Jan. 11 Santiago 23 Jan. 13 Los Amigos 41 Jan. 18 Garden Grove 39 Jan. 20 Pacifica 52 Jan. 25 Rancho Alamitos 32 Jan. 27 Kennedy 21 Jan. 30 Bolsa Grande 44 Feb. 3 Los Amigos 32 Feb. 6 Santiago 27 Feb. 7 Garden Grove 30 Feb. 9 Pacifica 32