The Common Denominator in Point Loma’s Success: Coach T

Point Loma High School’s girls are playing for the Southern California Division II basketball championship today.

As news goes, this is dog-bites-man stuff.

A regional final without Point Loma’s girls would be like Donald Trump without an ego, Jack McKeon without a cigar or Lee Hamilton without an opinion.

In other words, it just doesn’t happen.

“This is our seventh time in eight years,” said Coach Lee Trepanier, who has coached basketball’s version of the Pointer sisters to 335 victories and a mere 50 losses over 15 years. “Just think, we’re one game away from state.”

Again.

And Coach T, as they call him, was marveling at the thought, as though in awe. Obviously, each time is as nice as the time(s) before.

That one game Point Loma needs to win to get to the state final (again) will be against Pasadena Muir at 1:30 in the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Win today, and the kids get a chance to hang still one more state championship banner along the wall of the campus gym up there on Chatsworth Boulevard. There are four there already.

Muir, however, represents an interesting footnote in the recent history of Point Loma girls’ basketball.

In December 1985, to be precise, Muir beat Point Loma in one of those holiday tournament games. Point Loma had won 62 consecutive games before that loss and 74 consecutive games after it, accounting for a tidy record of 136-1 over a stretch of five seasons.

Muir, in this sense, was like the pitcher who stopped Joe DiMaggio’s streak.

Those, of course, were different teams and different players. Successful coaches with successful programs are able to sustain through the inevitable transitions, which might be more volatile on the high school level than anywhere else.

Obviously, Trepanier qualifies as a successful coach running a successful program.

Understand that he might not win many popularity contests north of I-8 or east of I-5 or south of Rosecrans. His detractors insist his players arrive literally by the busload from other areas in the San Diego district. So what? The busing program is tied into the district curriculum. To hear others (read that losers) tell it, the guy brings his players to school in limousines.

Paying this juggernaut a visit Thursday night, I expected to find Little Miss Showtime. Just roll out the basketball and turn ‘em loose. Naturally, they would be tall, fast and flashy. Jack Nicholson might even be there to watch.

Surprisingly, they looked more like they came out of a biology class. Their warm-up jerseys had nicknames such as Untouchable, Stretch, Rocko, Mighty Jo and E-Bay Lok (as well as some less imaginative real names such as Davis, Stacy, Moss and Neves).

When the game began, I could see why Neves would choose her own name rather than a nickname. Claudine Neves was nothing but serious. She was the point guard, running the offense, and her determination and discipline seemed to define the work ethic of the team.

In fact, this was far from a flash-and-dash aggregation. The word that comes to mind is gritty.

Both Point Loma and its opponent, La Quinta, went into the game with 28-3 records. Point Loma had its star, Tyeast (Untouchable) Brown, and La Quinta had its star, Amy Jalewalia, and what they did was virtually neutralize each other.

However, Jalewalia’s teammates were getting the best of Brown’s. Point Loma looked like it was going anywhere but to another Southern California championship game. It made only one of 16 shots in the first quarter and five of 30 in the half.

Given those numbers, one might assume the Pointers trailed by maybe 20 points. Not exactly. That dirty D word, defense, kept them close.

With La Quinta’s players hanging all over Brown like Christmas ornaments, Point Loma came up with another hero for the occasion. Robin (Rocko) Rabello made big baskets at the end of the second and third quarters to keep it close and yet another with seven seconds to play in the game to provide the comfort zone in what was finally an uncomfortable 39-36 victory.

Rabello, of course, is yet another of those made-to-play-basketball kids Trepanier is so “lucky” to get. Not exactly. She is a senior who came into the season with three soccer letters and zero basketball letters. She simply kept her wits about her and got the job done.

Indeed, what struck me in watching this game was that all these girls remained calm and controlled even when things were bleak and time was getting short . . . and this was definitely a game that could have gotten away.

It was easy to understand why Point Loma’s girls will be playing in their seventh Southern California regional championship game in eight years.

Because Lee Trepanier will be coaching his seventh regional championship game in eight years.