Point Loma Girls Back in Familiar Place, but Without a Familiar Face

Lee Trepanier returns today to the Los Angeles Sports Arena, the setting of some memorable achievements. Four consecutive Southern California Regional championships, preludes to four state titles.

There’s one difference. This time, when his Point Loma girls’ basketball team meets Los Angeles Morningside in the Southern California Division I final at 7 p.m., Terri Mann won’t be around.

Mann, a 6-foot-2 forward now at San Diego State after a season with Western Kentucky, was the rock of those championship teams. She was the best high school player in the nation in 1986-87, according to USC Coach Linda Sharp.

Without Mann last season, Point Loma didn’t return to Los Angeles. The Pointers didn’t even win the San Diego Section title.

“I think last year’s team should have won CIF,” Trepanier said. “We just didn’t peak. This team is peaking.”

When Mann was still around, Monica Filer--Point Loma’s playmaker, game-breaker and pass-taker--learned a lot of the skills that she has used to help her team this season. She was smaller than Mann, so she passed. And Mann scored. This season, there wasn’t a better point guard in San Diego County than Filer.

“She’s the best passer ever to come out of this area,” Trepanier said. “She’s the best point guard in California. She can do it all.”

So what do the Pointers have to do today to return to state champion status?

More of the same, says Trepanier. No sense changing now.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” he said. “But we’ve always had our work cut out for us. This team has done more than I ever expected them to do.”

Point Loma (32-1) has received strong performances from forward Chris Drumm (14 points) and center Tyeast Brown (15 points, 14 rebounds).

Morningside (34-1), second-ranked in the nation by USA Today, is led by junior Lisa Leslie, a 6-5 center, and senior JoJo Witherspoon, a point guard who averages 27 points per game and scored 69 points in a regular-season game.

This state championship stuff is new to Vista and sixth-year coach Joe DeMaria. The Panthers have never won a state title.

Before they stomped San Marcos in the section Division II final last Saturday, Vista hadn’t even won a county championship.

Today at 3 p.m. at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, Vista will play Anaheim Katella (26-3) in the Southern California Division II final. But DeMaria isn’t shaking with anticipation. He and his team seem to be taking all this in stride. Businesslike. This team, as evidenced by its top seeding and 28-3 record, isn’t easily rattled.

“I’ve got a veteran team,” DeMaria said. “We basically feel we’re long overdue.”

With enough rest, DeMaria thinks his team will be fine. Vista stayed in a hotel in Los Angeles Friday night to avoid having to travel on game day.

“Hopefully, they’ll get a good night’s sleep,” he said. “I wanted to avoid the long bus ride on the day of the game. The only drawback is to make sure the girls don’t stay up all night.”

Chris Enger, a 6-foot-4 center, leads the Panthers with 28.3 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocked shots per game. Support from the outside comes from Dana Christofferson (14 points, eight rebounds) and Kelli Schott (12 points, seven assists).

Katella survived a hair-raising semifinal, defeating Muir, 54-48, in overtime. Forward Joni Easterly, who averages 23.2 points and 11 rebounds, led Katella with 34 points and 12 rebounds and helped bring her team back from a 10-point third-quarter deficit. Easterly will play for USC next season.

“I think their athletes are better than the teams we’ve played so far,” DeMaria said. “They’re generally a very well-balanced team as far as height.”