High School Basketball Preview : Peninsula Will Take Its Case to the Courts : Panthers’ Goal Is to Prove Worthy of Nation’s Top Ranking

Long before the start of practice in November, the accolades were already beginning for the Peninsula High girls’ basketball team.

Among preseason polls, the Panthers were ranked No. 1 by Street & Smith magazine and No. 3 by USA Today. Cal-Hi Sports ranked Peninsula No. 1 in the state.

Coach Wendell Yoshida said there are inherent expectations that go with the team’s lofty status.

“You could win a CIF championship and a state championship and not finish No. 1 in the nation, and people might say we didn’t live up to expectations,” he said. “So it’s important that we try to keep it all in perspective.

“We’re happy that Street & Smith ranked us No. 1 and USA Today ranked us third. But we’re trying to be humble about it. We just want to get out on the court and play.”

Peninsula, created by the consolidation of Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Miraleste high schools, will play its season opener at 8:30 tonight against East Union of Manteca in the first round of the Capital City Shootout at Sacramento State University.

It is the start of a difficult schedule that includes tournaments in Santa Barbara and New York and nonleague road games against City Section favorite Washington and perennial Southern Section powers Buena of Ventura and Morningside.

Though the Panthers are regarded as the class of South Bay girls’ basketball this season, they are not the only team with title aspirations. Mission League rivals St. Bernard and Bishop Montgomery are solid threats for Southern Section titles and Pacific League rivals Banning and Carson are considered among the top teams in the City 4-A Division.

Following is a look at the South Bay’s top 10 teams. Last season’s records are in parentheses:

1. Peninsula (first year)--His team has received its share of attention, and Yoshida says it is not without justification.

“I can honestly say that this group is the most physically and athletically talented group I’ve had in 12 years as a coach,” he said. “This is the hardest working group I’ve ever coached, and it’s a team that really loves to play basketball.”

It is also a squad that is accustomed to winning. The Panthers have four players who have signed national letters of intent to play for NCAA Division I schools. All four started for the Palos Verdes team that won the State Division III championship last season.

They are guards Kristen Mulligan (5-foot-7) and Raquel Alotis (5-8), center Jeffra Gausepohl (6-5) and forward Monique Morehouse (6-3). Mulligan, co-most valuable player in the Southern Section Division III, and Morehouse signed with Auburn, Gausepohl with Virginia and Alotis with UC Santa Barbara.

“This is the kind of talent that doesn’t come around at a school too often,” Yoshida said.

The Panthers also have a solid fifth starter in sophomore forward Mimi McKinney (5-10). The top reserves are juniors Jill Kennedy (5-6) at guard and Ashley Burt (5-8) and Joanna Whitley (5-9) at forward.

2. St. Bernard (26-7)--After a season in which the Vikings won their first Southern Section title in school history, Coach Lori Pawinski is not minimizing her team’s chance of repeating.

“I think this team has the potential to win a state championship,” Pawinski said. “It definitely has the potential to win another CIF championship.”

The Vikings return three starters, including junior guard Joi Turner (5-4), an All-Southern Section Division III first-team choice who averaged 20.3 points as a sophomore. The others are junior point guard Kelly Shimabukuro (5-3), who averaged 11.3 points and 5.9 assists, and sophomore forward Olympia Scott (6-3), who averaged 11.3 rebounds as a freshman.

Other expected starters are Latisha Ducree (5-9) at guard and Heather Naebe (6-0) at forward. The top reserve is guard Ericka Ringor (5-6).

“I think we have a lot more confidence than we did last season, but there’s also a lot more pressure,” Pawinski said. “We don’t want people to think that everything we won last year was just a fluke.”

3. Bishop Montgomery (24-6)--Coach Cedric Hurt says his team learned a lot by finishing second in the Southern Section II-A Division.

“I think that this team knows how far we went last year and how far we have to go to get back,” Hurt said. “This team has shown a lot of hard work and dedication.”

He pointed toward the 23-4 record that the Knights had in summer league play.

Several talented players return, including 5-7 guards Mirlen Martinez and Natalie Graham and 6-0 forward Keisa Smith. The Knights also have an All-Southern Section transfer in 6-1 forward Joane Ziuritius from St. Bonaventure High in Ventura. Sophomore Shelley Dungo (5-6) will play guard.

Returning 6-0 forward Nicole Haynes, one of the top long-jumpers in the state, should help the Knights’ rebounding. “We have to focus on rebounding,” Hurt said. “We were fortunate to have a 24-6 record, but we weren’t as aggressive on the boards as we should have been.”

4. Banning (15-9)--With three starters returning, the Pilots already had a good team, and that was before guard Rayjanette Lampkin (5-8) transferred from Carson, where she averaged 13.5 points and seven rebounds.

Lampkin and point guard LaTrece Polk give the Pilots one of the best backcourts in the South Bay.

Banning should also be strong inside with the return of 6-4 center Michelle Campbell, who averaged 11.9 points and 12.1 rebounds, and forward Lameshia Pittman (5-10).

“I have four real solid girls coming back and we just have to fill around them,” Coach David DeLaby said.

DeLaby is uncertain about his fifth starter but wasn’t overly concerned.

“The athletes are there,” he said. “It’s just a question of how quick they come along. We feel like we have the talent. It’s just a matter of molding them.”

5. Carson (22-5)--The Colts suffered a loss with the transfer of Lampkin, but Coach Jay Park believes he will have a strong team.

Returning players such as forward Bernice Alafua (5-11), a two-time All-South Bay selection who averaged 20.6 points and 12.2 rebounds, and 5-7 guards Kaimo Newton and Yvonne Ale give the Colts plenty of punch. Ale’s brother Arnold, a former All-City football player at Carson, is now a linebacker at UCLA.

“She’s a very tough, aggressive player,” Park said of Ale. “She’s just like her brother.”

Carson also has point guard Keisha Holmes (5-8), a transfer who was a starter at Leuzinger, and center Brandie Gray, an imposing 6-3, 265-pound sophomore.

“She’s going to be all-world by the time she’s a senior,” Park said of Gray. “She’s very big and strong. She’s a great shot-blocker and rebounder.”

6. Morningside (32-3)--With the departure of Coach Ron Randle, who has become the Hawthorne boys’ coach, and 6-4 center Janet Davis, the co-Southern Section Division I player of the year who transferred to Lynwood, it has the appearance of a rebuilding season for the Monarchs.

First-year Coach Rod Tatum, whose brother Ron coaches the Morningside football team, remains hopeful even though he was hired less than two weeks ago and has held a limited number of practices.

“We’re not quite as talented as they’ve been in the past, but with some hard work, and once they start practicing regularly, I think they’ll be OK,” Tatum said. “Right now it’s been a little difficult, but we’re getting there.”

Without Davis, Morningside will rely on junior center Tina Thompson (6-2), point guard Kamiesha Prewitt (5-5) and guard Sherrill Young (5-6). Tatum expects a big season from Thompson, a junior who earned All-Ocean League honors and averaged 12 points and 9.5 rebounds.

Among the top newcomers are transfer Valerie Thompson (5-8), forward Latricia Sibley (5-10) and center Charisse Barnett (6-2).

7. Inglewood (16-7)--After his team had its best record in his four seasons as coach, Arnold Blaylark thinks the Sentinels have the potential for improvement this season.

“Undoubtedly, it’s the most talented group of kids I’ve had at Inglewood,” he said. “It’s just a matter of how fast they develop.”

A lot will depend on the play of center Kelly Bryant (6-2), who averaged 14.5 points and 11 rebounds as an All-Division I second-team choice. “Kelly was (listed) in the top 50 players in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, and we’ll look to her to carry us early in the season,” Blaylark said.

The Sentinels will also rely on two other returning All-Bay League players, guard Sherrice King (5-7) and forward Stevena Richards (5-10). In addition, Inglewood returns sophomore point guard Shanora Holloway (5-6) and has a talented freshman in forward Yanick Clay (5-11).

“We’ve shown we can compete at this level,” Blaylark said. “Now it’s time for us to make our move.”

8. Torrance (19-9)--In an effort to bring the Tartars closer, Coach Ric Momohara sent most of his squad to a summer camp at Pepperdine University last summer.

Momohara thinks the experience will pay dividends for Torrance, which has one of the area’s youngest teams. “I feel like we’re more of a team than last year,” he said. “The girls are helping each other out, and they’re playing more together.”

The Tartars have only one senior among their top nine players. The top player appears to be guard Tiffany Fujimoto (5-7), a second-team All-Division II selection as a sophomore.

The only senior is center Brittany Mounger (6-0). Torrance also has two other standout guards in sophomore Julie Tamashiro (5-3) and junior Wendy Shimohara (5-0).

“We’re a little quicker than last year,” Momohara said. “I’m optimistic. It’s just that it may take us a little time to develop.”

9. North Torrance (15-11)--There is no question about what kind of strategy the Saxons will employ.

“When your biggest player is 5-8, you have to rely on your quickness,” Coach Richard Rosato said.

Leading the way is 5-7 forward Jennifer Tojo, the most valuable player in the Pioneer League. Two other returning starters are guards Teri Inn (5-5) and Lori Delapina (5-3).

Other returning letter winners include Leslie Mukogawa (5-7) and Corene Morita (5-6) at forward and Bonnie Nishioka (5-4) at guard. Freshman center Bridget Moss (5-8) should see playing time.

“We’re optimistic about things,” Rosato said. “Last year we finished 5-3 in league, and with some key people back, we’re hoping to be a little better this year.”

10. Redondo (3-19)--How much have the Sea Hawks improved over last season’s fourth-place finish in the Ocean League?

“It’s like night and day, and the other coaches in the league will echo that sentiment,” Coach Stephen Brown said.

Brown thinks his team will be a factor in the race for the league title.

Redondo is led by forward Tanya Paaluhi, an all-league selection who averaged 16.1 points as a junior. She is an adept three-point shooter. Two other returning starters are junior center Tiffany Williams (5-10), who averaged 10.3 points and 9.5 rebounds, and sophomore point guard Mandy Chavez (5-2).

Other players expected to start are freshmen Andrea Miller (5-7) at guard and Leah Santa (5-8) at forward. Redondo has only two seniors among its top 10 players.

Other teams to watch:

San Pedro (8-12)--The Pirates have one of the South Bay’s top players in All-City forward Fatima Warren, a 5-10 senior who averaged 18 points. “She’s an exceptional kid,” Coach Tony Dobra said. “We’ll let her carry us on her back and see how far she can take us.” The Pirates will also rely on two standouts from the junior varsity team, center Marilyn Perez (6-0) and guard Laura Olson (5-4).

West Torrance (17-5)--It may be difficult for the Warriors to match last season’s success, when they won the Pioneer League title, but they should be competitive with the return of All-Division II guard Laurie Shimizu, who averaged 16.9 points and 5.2 assists.