DIVISION II GIRLS : Brea-Olinda’s Victory Doesn’t Please Trakh

The team manager stood within earshot of Brea-Olinda’s locker room and listened to the fireworks show going on inside.

“Lots of running tomorrow,” she predicted.

Fifteen minutes had passed since Brea-Olinda passed a 77-41 judgment on visiting Ventura in a Southern California Division II girls’ regional playoff game Tuesday night. Then Ladycat Coach Mark Trakh did his own judging.

“We played good, in the first half, “ he said. “Nicole could have had 48.”

The first half was Nicole. Brea-Olinda guard Nicole Erickson scored 24 points, made four steals, grabbed four rebounds and had three assists in 16 minutes of play.

At the 6:07 mark in the second quarter, Erickson ripped a three-pointer that stopped the clock when Trakh stepped briefly on the court for a warm embrace with his star player. By scoring her 614th point of the season, Erickson had just broken the single season scoring record of 613 set by Da Houlin 1981-82.

Ventura Coach Glenn Gray was well acquainted with Erickson and wasn’t the least surprised.

“I saw her two years ago in the playoffs, when she was a freshman,” he said.

But Trakh had plenty to say about Erickson and what his team was without her, which wasn’t very good.

“We were flat in the second half,” he said. “They came out playing sloppy. (Nicole) goes in and everyone plays better. She has a spirit, a charisma, that is intangible.”

With the victory, Brea-Olinda advanced to the regional semifinal Thursday night against Carlsbad of the San Diego Section.

It was the Carlsbad game, not the Ventura game, that was on the Ladycats’ minds Tuesday.

“They were looking at the game ahead,” Trakh said. “We don’t want them to get in the habit of looking at the next game. We’re not talented enough to do that.”

Trakh decided there was no reason to risk injury to Erickson, so he benched her in the second half. Although he did not like the way his team responded to the 53-12 halftime lead Erickson had orchestrated, he isn’t worried about the future.

“They need to be able to play without Nicole,” he said. “But I think that if the game was really tight, they would be able to respond without her.”

Colleen Hudson and Lee Moulin added 14 and 11 points for Brea-Olinda (29-2). Ember Brown led Ventura (24-4) in scoring with 19 points.