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GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ‘93-’94: SOUTH COAST LEAGUE : Winning, Not Records, Is Macintyre’s Focus

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

San Clemente guard Michelle Macintyre remembers the jokes from her coach last season, and she probably should be bracing for a new round.

Macintyre broke the school’s single-season scoring record last season and is on the brink of breaking the career record. The former record holder?

San Clemente Coach Mary Mulligan, who is also keeping a sense of humor.

When Macintyre neared the single-season record last February, Mulligan started making good-natured threats.

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“She said she was going to pull me out and not let me play the rest of the season,” Macintyre said.

Idle threats, of course. Mulligan, who as Mary Johnson was an All-Southern Section guard for the Tritons before graduating in 1981, is actually enjoying watching Macintyre topple her scoring marks. Mulligan scored 956 points as a four-year starter. Macintyre, who scored 466 last season and is the first four-year starter since Mulligan, needs 179 points to break the record.

“It’s kind of neat because the record had been up there for a long time and Michelle is a much better player than I was in high school,” Mulligan said. “She deserves it, and it’s neat to see her do it.”

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Macintyre is not as impressed.

“I guess I’m not that big on records,” Macintyre said. “It’s not that big of a deal to me. It’s nice, I guess, but the most important thing is winning.”

That shouldn’t be a problem. The Tritons are expected to be one of the top three teams in the competitive South Coast League. Last season, they finished in a tie for second with Mater Dei and advanced to the Division I-A playoffs, losing in the second round to Perris, 71-57. It was the Tritons’ third consecutive second-round loss, something Macintyre would like to rectify this season.

“That’s basically my goal,” she said. “We keep getting stalled there. I think we can do it this year, though.”

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After two seasons as a role-playing starter, Macintyre came into her own last season, becoming “a player people knew about and were trying to stop,” Mulligan said.

Few have been able to stop her--Mulligan calls her the second-best point guard in Orange County (after Brea-Olinda’s Nicole Erickson). One of her main assets is her ability to drive to the basket.

“She can take the ball to the basket and finish, and not many girls can do that,” Mulligan said.

Macintyre’s abilities have led to a scholarship to Hawaii. She was drawn to Hawaii--which she chose over Long Beach State, Eastern Washington and Pepperdine--because of the large following for the university’s women’s sports programs. When she visited the Honolulu campus, she was taken to a women’s volleyball match.

“I’ve never seen women’s sports get such a big crowd,” Macintyre said. “And they were so loud. It was amazing.”

Equally amazing was the way Macintyre joined the San Clemente starting lineup as a freshman. Mulligan remembers a shy but determined player who several games into the season asked for a chance to start. San Clemente was struggling to find a strong ballhandler and Macintyre decided she could do it.

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“I was pretty skeptical at first,” Mulligan said. “But I gave her a chance and she did well and started the rest of the season.”

Macintyre said her directness was a bit out of character.

“I guess I was determined,” she said. “I’m one of those players who can’t stand sitting on the bench. I wanted to be a part of it, so I guess I got the guts to go ask.”

Macintyre was a steady, if not spectacular, player as a freshman and sophomore. As a sophomore, she injured her shoulder in a collision with Costa Mesa’s Olivia DiCamilli, and was tentative when she returned in league play. But she was back at full strength as a junior.

The gentle jokes from Mulligan are bound to continue until the career record is broken, likely about 10 games into the season. Then Macintyre can concentrate on more important matters, such as going after a South Coast League title.

“She’s a competitor,” Mulligan said. “She wants to win no matter what. If it means we win and she doesn’t score a point, she’d be happy.”

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