Erickson’s Basket Rescues Brea Again : Prep basketball: For second consecutive season her clutch shot, this one with 3.5 seconds to play, gives Ladycats a State title.

If she could bottle it up, ship it out and put in on the shelves, she’d make a mint.

Nicole Erickson has perfected what could be basketball’s answer to Drano, but it’s not something she can explain, let alone sell.

For the second time in Brea-Olinda’s run at its fourth State championship, Erickson’s nerves-of-steel, last-minute heroics did the job.

With her team trailing by a point and the clock racing until 3.5 seconds remained, Erickson’s dead-on, 12-foot baseline jump shot sealed the Ladycats’ 42-41 victory over Fair Oaks Bella Vista, and with it, the Division II State title in front of 7,482 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena Friday night.

Did we say seal? Make that resuscitate.

The Broncos may have had the wind knocked out of them, but they were still kicking.

That’s when the longest 2.1 seconds of Brea’s lives proved to be a fraction of a second too short for Bella Vista.

The Broncos inbounded the ball from the opposite end of the court and were looking to center Amy Smith for the home run. As the ball was en route, Brea sophomore guard Tara Llanes tripped up the play, but Bella Vista recovered enough to get the ball to Allison Barrett, who sank the 18-footer.

But officials waved the shot off before it left her hands because time had run out.

“I was hoping it would go in before (the buzzer), but it didn’t,” said Barrett, the only junior among Bella Vista’s starters.

Barrett was luckier from the same spot 12 seconds earlier, when she gave Bella Vista (29-5) a 41-40 lead with 13.4 seconds remaining.

Brea Coach Mark Trakh had instructed his players to keep the ball in front of them and not get beat deep.

“As a coach, you stay up at night daydreaming about what you do in that situation,” said Trakh, whose team ends the season 32-2. “ . . . Tara did a good job of cutting it off.

Meanwhile, visions of last year’s NCAA men’s semifinals flashed before Erickson’s eyes.

“It reminded me of that Duke game,” she said. “I was thinking, ‘Oh no, this could be Christian Laettner all over again.”

Instead, the two good endings to one game both went Brea’s way. Which brings us back to Erickson’s shot.

Trakh was the first one to mention that it was her second clutch basket of the postseason. Against Carlsbad in the Southern California semifinals, her three-pointer with 33 seconds left advanced the Ladycats to the regional final.

And don’t forget about 1992. Last year, Erickson’s three-pointer with 45 seconds upended Healdsburg in the Division III final.

“This was different,” she said. “There was a lot more time last year.”

Trakh had given his junior star, who finished with 19 points, the option to put it up or share the wealth. Had Erickson not felt comfortable, she would have tried to pass the ball inside, to a waiting Colleen Hudson.

“We were going to go to either one of the two options,” Trakh said.

Number two wasn’t necessary. Erickson treads fearlessly on ground others won’t set foot on. And she’s comfortable there.

It works because she knows it can.

“If you want it, and you know you’ve worked hard for it, you’ll have the confidence, and good things will happen,” Erickson said.

Last year it became known as The Shot, so is this The Shot II?

“No, that was the shot, this is the shot,” Erickson said with a laugh.

Bella Vista was stunned that its last-gasp shot wasn’t in time, but Coach Jorie Baer applauded both teams’ efforts.

“That was a great game between two great teams,” she said.

Smith, who entered the game with a 21.8 scoring average, was held to 11 points, a team-high she shared with Megan Kuzmich.

Bella Vista used a tough zone defense to stifle Brea in the first half, and Brea trailed, 20-14, at the half, and 34-30 after three quarters.

The Ladycats’ first lead in the fourth quarter came with 2:27 left, on a jumper by Sarah Beckley.

With the victory, Brea-Olinda became only the second school in State history to win four titles, an honor it now shares with San Diego Point Loma.

As he has before, Trakh said it felt great. But this time he sounded like the the tiger in the cereal commercial.

“This is great,” he said.

This year, Brea was obsessed with its “Drive for Five,” theme, in reference to its try at a fifth regional title, so what will it be next year?

“We’ll have to talk about it,” he said with a smile.

The Dynasty Rolls On

Review of Brea-Olinda’s five consecutive CIF State championship-appearances in girls’ basketball:

1989:

Brea-Olinda 70

S.F. Mercy 46

Winning its first State championship was easier for Brea-Olinda than the trip to Oakland. After experiencing stormy weather on the flight to the Bay area, the Ladycats (31-2) took it out on their opponent from San Francisco, rolling to a 28-12 halftime lead. Aimee McDaniel sparked Brea with 22 points and nine assists, and Jinelle Williams, who spotted 6-foot-2 opposing center Angel Mahan six inches, scored 23. The Division III championship was the first State title for an Orange County girls’ team.

1990: Auburn Placer 54, Brea-Olinda 43

Brea-Olinda’s 55-game winning streak came to an end in stunning fashion as Placer held the Ladycats to 14 second-half points and 33% shooting in the Division III final. Aimee McDaniel scored 22 points to lead Brea (33-1).

1991:

Brea-Olinda 54,

Haywood Moreau 46

Jody Anton, a junior forward, took charge in the Division II final, scoring all eight of the Ladycats’ points in the final quarter to hold off a Moreau rally and end the Mariners’ 24-game winning streak. Anton led Brea (33-1), finishing with 22 points, 13 rebounds, four blocked shots and four assists. “I think we worked harder this season than anybody has ever worked,” Anton said. “We wanted to go out on a winning note.”

1992

Brea-Olinda 47,

Healdsburg 44

Nicole Erickson’s three-point field goal with 30 seconds to play proved the clinching shot in the Division III final, as the Ladycats held on to win a game in which neither team led by more than four points in the second half. Brea trailed, 40-38, when Jody Anton took over, hitting a 12-footer with 4:29 to play and a 16-footer with 3:36 remaining. Carrie Dormire’s basket tied the score with 2:02 to play, but Dormire fouled Colleen Hudson, who made one free throw. Erickson then wrapped it up with her shot from the top of the key. “Erickson’s shot was just what we needed at the time,” Brea Coach Mark Trakh said. Anton led the Ladycats (32-2) with 19 points and 16 rebounds.

1993: Brea-Olinda 42, Fair Oaks Bella Vista 41

Nicole Erickson’s 12-foot jumper with 3.5 seconds to play gave the Ladycats the Division III title, their third State championship in a row. Erickson had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Brea-Olinda (32-2).