Basketball Is Only Part of Her Life : Community colleges: Harbor guard Bridgete Williams, who leads the state in scoring, is also a parent.

After a successful basketball career at Morningside High, Bridgete Williams almost quit playing the game. She had a baby as a 17-year-old senior and planned to concentrate on being a parent and full-time student at Cal State Dominguez Hills upon graduation.

There would be no time for basketball.

“I knew I’d miss the game,” Williams said. “But I had other responsibilities. I already thought I let my parents down when I got pregnant.”

But Esmine and Fred Williams persuaded their daughter to keep playing while they helped to support her and 2-year-old daughter, LaToya. Williams, a 5-foot-6 guard, enrolled at Harbor College, and made an immediate impact on the team.

Williams led the Seahawks to the state community college championship tournament last year in Oakland and was an All-Southern California Athletic Conference selection. She averaged 25 points a game and led the conference in scoring through the second half of the season.

“My parents said: ‘Don’t quit. You can make it. You have the ambition,’ ” Williams said. “They’re the driving force behind what I have done.”

This season, Williams leads the state in scoring at 38 points a game. She also averages six steals, 2.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds. Harbor (14-2, 1-0 in conference play) is ranked eighth in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau. The Seahawks’ losses were to Howard College of Texas and Clark College of Washington.

“She’s our leader,” Harbor Coach Louie Nelson said. “Wherever she goes, we go. She’s really tough on the ball. She plays No. 1 on defense.”

At first, Nelson wasn’t sure about Williams’ ability. He had heard of Janet Davis and Princess Murray--Williams’ Division I-bound Morningside teammates--but knew little about her.

“She was pregnant during the first part of her senior season at Morningside,” Nelson said. “The principal told me how good she was, but she was overweight at the time. I said: ‘No! I want athletes! I have enough wide bodies! I need athletes!’ ”

Williams, 19, was part of two state championship teams (1988-89, ‘89-90) at Morningside. As a senior in 1990-91, the Monarchs lost in the final of the state tournament. Williams’ pregnancy forced her to miss most of the season, but she returned in time for the playoffs.

“When I couldn’t play, I still sat on the bench,” Williams said. “Sometimes it was really hard.”

Williams says she gave birth on a Friday and was back in school on Monday. She returned to basketball practice a week after having her daughter.

“She showed me she had dedication from the start,” Nelson said. “One of the best things I have ever done is bring her here. Her strength is confidence.

“She knows she can play. You gotta be cocky, have good self-esteem and you gotta be a prima donna, and she has that and she also backs it up. She always comes to play.”

Nelson says Williams has improved greatly since she joined his Harbor summer league two years ago. He says USC, Clemson, Cal State Long Beach, Notre Dame and Cal State Fullerton have shown interest in Williams.

“She went from a suspect Division II player last year to definitely a Division I player this year,” he said.

Although she leads the Seahawks in scoring, defense is considered Williams’ strength. Many of her points come from steals and rebounds.

“She is definitely our best defensive player,” sophomore guard LaKeisha Melinger said. “She’s also a good leader.”

Williams and freshman point guard LaTasha Burnett make up one of the league’s quickest and most proficient backcourts. Burnett, a graduate of Lynwood High, says Williams has taught her a lot.

“She’s a good and well-rounded player,” Burnett said. “She’s quick on the ball and she moves well without the ball. She’s also a great shooter.”

Williams says without her family’s support, she wouldn’t have succeeded on the court or in the classroom. She has a 2.83 grade-point-average.

Williams’ mother and sisters take care of LaToya while Williams is in class or playing basketball. Williams, the second-oldest of six siblings, lives in Inglewood with her parents, daughter and five siblings.

She says it helps that two of her teammates--Melinger and sophomore forward Loretta Thomas--are also mothers. Melinger’s two children usually play in the gym while she attends practices. Thomas has a daughter.

“It’s like having a support group,” Williams said. “We talk about how we miss them and the crazy stuff we do at home.”

LaToya rarely attends practices, but she is at most games with her grandparents. Williams says it is difficult to keep from looking in the stands when she hears her daughter call out.

But Williams says it also reminds her that she must use the game she almost quit to earn a college scholarship.

“That’s my goal,” she said. “I really want to finish school.”