She Discovers Records Are Made to Be Confusing

In fairy tales, some prince is always inheriting some throne or kingdom, only to have a brother emerge as the rightful heir.

High school basketball records can be a lot like that.

Just ask Debbie Fischer of Edison High School. Fischer apparently set a Southern Section record for making the most three-point baskets in a game. In a Dec. 14 victory over Corona, Fischer sank 10 three-point shots.

The Southern Section lists Marilyn Robinson of Pasadena and Chiemi Morita of Hacienda Heights Wilson as sharing the record with eight three-pointers. But that was only the reported record.

Kathy Lizarraga, now at UC Irvine, apparently set a section and state record last season with 12 three-pointers when she scored 46 points for Calexico in a 61-48 victory over Fallbrook, according to Mark Tennis of Cal-Hi Sports magazine.

Tennis said he established the record from a report of the game in the San Diego Union, which reported that Lizarraga was 12 of 15 from the floor and had made 12 three-point baskets.

Cal-Hi is a weekly magazine that compiles state rankings, statistical leaders and records for high school sports.

“Any time you’re dealing with boys’ and girls’ records and dealing with hundreds of schools and thousands of games, there are going to be slip-ups,” Tennis said. “That is why we always say it is a reported record because there is always a chance, however slim, that there is an unreported total out there.”

Tennis said the reason his magazine and many of the CIF sections have different records is because he will take newspaper accounts as proof of a performance. The CIF sections often depend on written notice from the schools.

The Southern Section asks its members to return a form listing record-setting performances.

“We have 475 member schools in our section and geographically we range from the Mexican border to Paso Robles,” said Scott Cathcart, a Southern Section spokesman. “It is impossible for us to keep track of everything that happens, so we ask our schools to provide us with that information.

“I still haven’t been contacted by the school concerning (Lizarraga’s record). I don’t doubt that she did it or anything but that is how our process works.”