Looking for the Limelight : North’s Laura Collins Scores With a Scholarship

For all of her high school career, Laura Collins has seemingly played under a shadow that stretched all the way from Inglewood to Torrance.

It’s not because Collins, North Torrance High’s 6-foot center, can’t shoot the basketball. She’s averaging 29 points per game this season.

She can also crash the boards, averaging 13 rebounds per game.

She’s been North’s best player for four years, and with numbers like the ones above, you’d probably figure Collins is also the best player in her league.

Well, maybe in another league.

When people think of the Ocean League, they just naturally think of Morningside 6-5 senior center Lisa Leslie and her teammate, 6-4 sophomore forward Janet Davis.

Which brings us back to that shadow.

“It’s easy to become overshadowed by being in a league with players like that,” Collins said. “But I don’t feel I’ve been damaged at all. I have my own talents and I have shown what I can do.”

Although Leslie and Davis have grabbed most of the publicity and awards, Collins has what neither of her rivals have at the moment: a scholarship.

Collins signed early with UCLA, choosing the Bruins over UC Berkeley and Cal State Long Beach. She also took recruiting trips to Arizona State and San Diego State.

“It seemed like the best time to make my decision,” Collins said. “The recruiting process was becoming very hectic, and I wasn’t waiting to hear from anybody else. I had heard from basically every school I wanted to hear from.”

Next year, Collins will join UCLA center Molly Tideback, a sophomore this season, in the front court at Pauley Pavilion. But for now, Collins isn’t looking any further than Wednesday’s league opener against Morningside, the defending state champion.

Collins will be looking across the court at Davis, a teammate of Collins’ on John Anderson’s Carson-based South Bay team in last summer’s Olympic Girls Development League.

Then there’s Leslie. The last time North and Morningside met, Leslie scored 37 points against a defense that double-teamed her most of the game.

“It’s hard to guard her because she’s so much taller than everybody else,” Collins said. “But she’s not extremely strong. I try to use my strength against her height and push her out farther than she wants to go. I’m also quicker than she is, so she’ll have to contend with that.”

North Coach Richard Rosato prefers to run a controlled, half-court offense that rotates the ball around the perimeter until Collins gets open, shuttling back and forth across between the high and low posts.

It’s a testimony to Collins’ dominance inside the key that North’s second highest scorer, forward Carolyn Hiramoto, is averaging under 10 points per game. Guards Stacy Onomura and Lori Delapina know their job--get the ball inside to Collins.

“Laura’s a strong kid,” Rosato said. “She’s obviously our leader.”

For the most part, the offense has been successful. North reached the quarterfinals of the Southern Section playoffs last year with Collins in the middle before losing to Mission Viejo,60-59, on a shot at the buzzer.

This season, the Saxons are 6-1, having swept through the Beverly Hills Tournament before Christmas en route to a 70-56 victory over Estancia in the championship game.

Collins, the tournament’s most valuable player, scored 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the title game. The Saxons are playing in the Costa Mesa Tournament this weekend.

“Laura does a nice job of getting herself open and does a nice job on the offensive boards,” said Dan Hansen, Saxon assistant coach.

On the summer team, Collins played the high post in a run-and-gun offense, so most of her shots came in the 15-to-20-foot range.

She also learned how to handle the ball better in an up-tempo, fast-breaking transition offense.

“If the tempo dictates it, she can adapt her game,” Hansen said. “If the tempo is upbeat, she goes upbeat. If it’s aggressive, she goes aggressive. If it’s finesse, she goes for the finesse.”

The game Wednesday will probably turn into a wide-open affair. Leslie, Davis and the rest of the Morningside team like the running game, and they’re likely to turn the offense up a few notches against Collins and North.

Collins is ready for a reunion with her shadow.

“They’re the ones to beat,” she said. “They’re the ones with the No. 1 ranking. The pressure is on them to keep it.”