LEADING THE WAY : CHRIS ENGER : Stopping Vista Star Is a Tall Order

In baseball, they say speed never goes into a slump.

Translate that to basketball, and it would be height that never goes into a slump.

For the past four seasons, girls’ basketball coaches in the Palomar League and beyond have found this to be true. And they have been helpless to do anything about it.

In trying to stop Vista High’s 6-foot-4 center, Chris Enger, coaches have had two choices:

--Try to get away with having one player stand on another player’s shoulders.

--Wait until Enger graduates.

Since the rules don’t allow the first idea, coaches have had to wait for the second. Fortunately for them, the wait is nearly over.

Vista will meet San Marcos in the girls’ Division II championship game Saturday afternoon at 2:30, and Enger, a senior, will be playing in her final San Diego Section game.

Vista is 25-3 and, regardless of what happens Saturday, probably will qualify for the state playoffs.

Opponents there will have to try and stop a player who is the No. 2 scorer in San Diego Section history with 2,477 points.

Indeed, height hasn’t slumped much.

“The thing about Chris is that she just changes the way your team has to approach a game,” said Poway High Coach Jay Trousdale, whose team lost to Vista six times during the past two seasons. “On offense, it’s hard enough to try and stop her. But at the defensive end, it’s even tougher. Your kids are used to running the offense and then getting a shot off. But Chris will just come over and block it. It’s frustrating, and sometimes it almost seems unfair.”

To Chris Enger, unfair was being the tallest kid in the class in kindergarten, and then realizing that as she grew up even more, nobody was catching up to her.

“When they lined up for pictures, from tallest to smallest, I was always first in line,” said Enger. “And that goes for every grade I was ever in.”

Enger could do nothing about her height, so she decided to do something with it. That something was basketball.

“My mom actually pushed me into playing at first (in third grade), but once I started, I liked it,” Enger said. “On the basketball court, it helped to be tall. I liked that.”

So did Vista Coach Joe DeMaria, who inherited Enger four years ago and who, with her help, has turned Vista into one of the county’s strongest teams.

In Enger’s sophomore season, Vista advanced to the section 3-A final, losing to Point Loma. In that game, Enger played against the county’s all-time leading scorer, Terri Mann, and she didn’t fare too well.

“She wasted me,” Enger said.

Last year, the Panthers were second-seeded in the Division I playoffs, but were upset by Santana in the semifinals.

There were no upsets this year, however. Enger made sure with 33 points, 23 rebounds and seven blocks in a 66-34 semifinal victory over Oceanside Tuesday.

“It was really just a normal game for her,” DeMaria said.

Enger’s presence in the middle has made life miserable for more than just a few of the county’s centers and penetrating guards.

One night, against Poway, Enger blocked all four of Laura Nugent’s shots in the second quarter. Nugent, a 6-foot center, was among Poway’s leading scorers this season. But she had trouble doing the things that she normally can do.

“She blocks a lot of shots, but what makes it tough is that she alters so many more,” Trousdale said. “And you hardly ever get a second shot against Vista because she’s there to grab the rebound.”

On the other side of the court, DeMaria sees no such troubles.

“You could tell a long time ago that Chris was going to be quite a player,” DeMaria said. “I mean, everybody could see that she was tall, but the most important thing was that she was athletic, too. So many tall kids just can’t do the things she can do on the court.”

One of Enger’s new contributions this season has been playing the role of a press-breaker. When Vista lost in the playoffs last season, it was hurt by an inability to break the press. Now, when the guards are in trouble, they look for Enger. She can dribble it upcourt or pass off, since there aren’t many players who can stop her from passing the ball over them.

“The only thing is that I’m not a one-person team here,” Enger said. “I can’t believe how many points I score sometimes. But I wouldn’t be able to do it without my teammates.”

Vista’s starting five is the same this season as it was a year ago, and the players have been on a year-long crusade to win a title they feel eluded them last season.

“To go out without winning a championship would leave everything incomplete,” Enger said.