Soft-Spoken Iwamasa Prepares to Turn Up Volume This Season : Edison: Now the focus of Chargers’ offense, senior captain leads by more than example.

Edison’s Melanie Iwamasa doesn’t believe in talking a good game on the basketball court. She lets her play speak for itself.

This isn’t a bad idea considering the 5-foot-9 senior averaged 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists last season and earned first-team All-Sunset League honors.

Although Edison Coach Philip Abraham promised a new look from his soft-spoken team captain this season, he didn’t expect to see it so soon.

During the Chargers’ first scrimmage, last week against Brea-Olinda, the No. 1-ranked team in the county, Iwamasa flashed a new competitive spirit. A fighting spirit. A loud spirit.

After a collision with Brea-Olinda’s 6-0 Jody Anton, Iwamasa staggered to the bench, clutching her midsection and gasping for air.

“She growled to me, ‘I’m gonna kill her, Coach,’ ” Abraham said. “And everybody on our bench, the assistant coaches, myself, we were shocked . . . we couldn’t believe that was coming out of Melanie.

“Hopefully we’ll see more of that fire; we need her to be a leader this season.”

This uncharacteristic outburst came from the same player who, as a freshman, carried the basketballs for the varsity without argument.

It also came from the player who says she’s perfectly happy blending into the background.

“I’m trying to be a vocal leader this year,” Iwamasa said. “But I’m more comfortable just showing people what I can do.”

Iwamasa has shown a lot of people what she can do and the coaches in the Sunset League have taken note.

“She’s one of the best,” Marina Coach Pete Bonny said. “We were able to contain most of the top players in the league, but we couldn’t stop Iwamasa.”

Iwamasa could be even tougher to stop this season because she will be the focal point of Edison’s offense.

After starting at point guard for three years, Iwamasa was moved to the wing to increase her scoring.

Leila Ryan, a 5-1 All-Pacific Coast League point guard for Trabuco Hills last season, transferred to Edison this year and will start at point guard.

While other players might lament the switch to a new position, Iwamasa welcomes Ryan’s arrival.

“I was happy when I heard about Leila,” Iwamasa said. “It just takes some of the ball-handling pressure off me.”

If the summer leagues were any indication, the new lineup works. Iwamasa led the Chargers to a 20-5 summer record and averaged 21 points.

Iwamasa’s importance to the team also showed last season when she missed four league games because of a severely sprained left ankle.

The Chargers lost all four of those games, including a four-point loss to league champion Marina, which finished 12-0 in league play last season.

“I was frustrated and I wanted to play so bad, but I couldn’t even walk,” Iwamasa said.

When Abraham first walked onto the Edison campus as the girls’ basketball coach three years ago, he knew he had something special in Iwamasa.

“I saw a 5-9 sophomore who could handle the ball,” Abraham said. “And I knew right away that someday she would be a marquee player.”

Marquee player or not, Abraham said Iwamasa still has a weakness. She doesn’t shoot enough.

Abraham is trying to cure that in early-season practice sessions, tailoring the offense so Iwamasa will shoot more often.

While practicing inbounds plays, Iwamasa ran off picks in four directions to shoot three-point shots. She finished the sequence by launching her final three-pointer from the corner, and into the side of the backboard.

Iwamasa just laughed.

She keeps the game in perspective, and realizes it can help her get an education. Iwamasa, an honor-roll student, would like to become a pharmacist.

Oregon State, San Jose State, UC Davis, Chapman and Cal Poly Pomona are some of the schools that have shown an interest in her.

“I don’t know where I want to go yet,” Iwamasa said. “I don’t want to close off any of my options, so we’ll wait and see.

“I just love the game so much. I try not to think about the awards or the attention and everything; I just want to know for myself that I tried my hardest to do the best I could.”