PREP REVIEW : Even Though He’s Not the Boss, Hattrup Still Winner With Brea-Olinda

When John Hattrup, former girls’ basketball coach at Mission Viejo High School, signed on as an assistant to Brea-Olinda Coach Mark Trakh three years ago, a few eyebrows went up.

After all, while coaching basketball at Mission Viejo, Hattrup compiled a 215-55 record.

His teams won seven South Coast League titles, advanced to the playoffs in all 10 seasons, and won the Southern Section 2-A championship in 1981-82 and the 3-A title in ‘86-87.

“I think a lot of people didn’t think it was going to work because they saw two guys who yell and scream a lot,” said Hattrup, who still coaches the jump events in track and field at Mission Viejo.

But the association has worked as defending Division III champion Brea, always a dominating team, has been near-perfect. Brea defeated Inglewood Morningside, USA Today’s top-ranked team in the nation, two weeks ago and has a 35-game winning streak.

Hattrup coaches Brea’s post players and also scouts. The alliance works because he understands his role.

“An assistant coach makes suggestions. A head coach makes decisions,” said Hattrup, who resigned as Mission Viejo’s girls’ basketball coach to pursue a teaching career. “If you don’t know that, then you are going to have a lot of problems.”

Hot shot: In order to make last week’s Marina High School girls’ tournament stand out, Pete Bonny, varsity girls’ basketball coach, added a Hot Shot contest.

Two players from each team were given a total of 60 seconds to shoot from six spots on the court. The spots were worth anywhere from one to five points. A shot from the top of the key was worth five points, and players received five bonus points for attempting a shot from all six spots. Players with the top four scores advanced to the championship round.

“It was something a little different,” Bonny said. “At halftime of the championship game you see the best shooters. We could have had a dunk contest, but that probably wouldn’t have worked out too well.”

A.J. Dionne of Hart won with 26 points. Her teammate, Sara Wilson, a 6-foot-3 All-American center, was second with 23 points and La Quinta’s Amy Jalewalia was third with 22.

Shoot the rock: Bonny was a varsity assistant and junior varsity coach at Newport Harbor before taking the varsity job at Marina this year.

He had never received a technical until Thursday when he was slapped with one in a consolation semifinal against Huntington Beach.

Bonny maintains he was only trying to get official Martin Del Pozo to change the game ball.

“I wasn’t even irate or anything,” Bonny said. “The ball was a rock. We were seriously playing with a rock.”

Huntington Beach Coach Nick Bartlett also wanted the ball changed but Del Pozo refused, Bonny said.

“I’m walking back to the bench,” Bonny said. “I gave up. I said, ‘OK, let’s use the rock.’ Under my breath, I said, ‘Why don’t we just use a football?’

“That’s when Del Pozo blew the whistle. I coached for seven years and never got a ‘T’ in my life. I don’t even count this one. He must have had rabbit ears.”

Brothers in basketball: Unranked Edison won the Marina tournament title defeating Ocean View, fifth-ranked in the Southern Section 5-A polls.

First-year varsity Coach Philip Abraham doesn’t have a starter over 5-10, but his Chargers are 8-2 and have defeated several teams with much taller personnel, including 6-3 Ocean View center Jennifer Sullivan.

Abraham is the brother of Michael Abraham, now an assistant for the Cal State Long Beach women’s basketball team, the sixth-ranked Division I squad in the nation.