Hernandez at Home on Basketball Court : Freeway League: La Habra guard chose sport she’d be more likely to play in college.

Above the basketball court sits the Hernandez family, watching No. 32 perform her point guard skills. Some nights, along with her parents, half the stands seem to be filled with sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and cousins.

They have come to watch and lend their support to La Habra’s Martha Hernandez.

Family is a big part of life for Hernandez, who has two brothers and four sisters. It is at the heart of what propelled her into sports and it is what has made her stay.

But basketball is not the sport Hernandez’s family envisioned for her. Soccer is the family’s sport of choice. Hernandez, 17, grew up playing soccer--she still plays in the off-season--but in eighth grade, a teacher persuaded her to play high school basketball because she Hernandez could get a college scholarship more readily in basketball than soccer. Once Hernandez made the La Habra team as a freshman, she had her own reason for sticking with the sport.

“Just recently, a kid from our school died. He was shot in a drive-by shooting. It was right down the street from our school,” Hernandez said. “It’s just a sad thing.

“I used to hang around some girls that were just like nothing. They would go to school and not even go to class, so I just got out of that crowd. That’s when I steered toward basketball.

“I was going to quit the team and play soccer, but basketball seemed like it took up a lot more of my time. It took up my nights, so that’s why I wanted to stay in basketball, just to have an excuse not to do what they (the girls) would do.”

The decision has paid off. Hernandez, a four-year starter, helped the Highlanders advance to the 2-A semifinals in 1991, where they lost to eventual champion Woodbridge. Last season, La Habra lost in the first round of the playoffs to Mission Viejo, after winning the Freeway League title.

With the graduation of 6-foot-5 center Zrinka Kristich, who is at UCLA, La Habra and Hernandez, who is 5-7, are playing differently this season.

“There’s a big load on her because (some) team members on the floor this season are sophomores,” La Habra Coach John Koehler said. “She’s learning to play a different game because before we had tall girls like the Kristich sisters. When we had them, it was an easy job for her. Now, other teams are double-teaming Martha.”

Last season, Hernandez averaged 10.7 points and 5.3 assists. Her play earned the admiration of the Freeway League coaches, among them Troy’s Brad Sand.

“She’s obviously a good floor leader,” Sand said. “She’s a tough competitor and has a lot to do with La Habra’s success as she uses her strength to an advantage.”

Part of that tough exterior comes from playing basketball against her brothers, cousins and other males. Although Hernandez grew up with soccer, she started playing basketball at 7 at the La Habra Boys and Girls Club, a three-minute bike ride from her house.

Hernandez also developed her skills playing against her brothers, particularly Carlos, 21, and her cousins. Front yard games of H-O-R-S-E are common at the Hernandez house, where a free throw-line is painted on the driveway and a backboard and net are attached to the garage.

“When I’m boxing out, they will throw me out of the way to get the rebound and I’m like, ‘Be nice,’ because they’re so mean,” she said. “But I can take it.”