‘Shooting Stars’ Burns Out Early : * The comedy about a team of women who play Globetrotter-type basketball is a fun ride that takes a wrong turn toward melodrama.

“Shooting Stars” is a snappy little comedy that tries too hard to be a metaphor for feminism, when it just should have been happy with its ability to amuse.

In a zesty staging by director John Ferzacca at Orange Coast College, Molly Newman’s play fast-breaks us into the locker room of the Shooting Stars, an all-female, barnstorming basketball team on the eve of its latest game against some local men’s outfit.

These ladies--mostly girls, really--know what’s expected of them: Put on a good show. And if the Stars just happen to win, that’s cool, because this isn’t real basketball. This is really just slapstick with a taste of sex, nice-looking girls in shorts working Harlem Globetrotter tricks. The guys won’t be offended if you beat them, as long as you make them laugh.

But when tragedy strikes at the end of Act I, the evening’s scenario changes. The team must decide on a new future: Stick with the tried and true, the silly shenanigans, or play the men straight up, no tricks, no shticks.

The Stars’ response is, of course, as predictable as corn growing in Kansas, and it leads “Shooting Stars” to bog down in a glob of over-baked melodrama and shallow heroics. All the players, who up to then have engaged in feisty rivalry and friendly hectoring, now unite under one banner, almost salivating at the thought of whipping some male fannies.

It’s bad sitcom chic, mainly because Newman doesn’t do much with the idea of small-town feminine revolution besides massage it for fat emotions. The comedy clunks at the end, which is too bad because up until then, “Shooting Stars” has been tidy and fun, a nice, pleasant ride.

What Newman does best is set up the characters clearly, with bright personalities and individual stories, and it’s easy to like them, their banter and their own views of themselves and their futures.

Ferzacca and his actresses don’t waste time with anything, and that’s just the right approach to this show. Despite a few minor missteps at a recent performance, the cast was uniformly capable at drawing us into the characters. Standouts included Lynn Laguna as the team’s thoughtful star player and Wendy Thorlakson as the Stars’ cynical glamour girl.

‘Shooting Stars’

An Orange Coast College production of the play by Molly Newman. Directed by John Ferzacca. With Cindy Cafferty, Svetlana Nasrawi, Terri Mowrey, Lynn Laguna, Denise Baum, Wendy Thorlakson, Leslie Rowe, and Floyd Phillips. Set by David Scaglione. Lighting by David Dunbrack. Sound by Mike Patrick. Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the campus Drama Lab, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $5 to $7. (714) 432-5527