PREP WEDNESDAY: ALL-COUNTY BASKETBALL : Her Stage Presence Sets Erickson Apart : Player of the year: It’s that quality that allows the Brea-Olinda senior guard to excel.

She passes, dribbles and shoots like a champion.

She plays defense, has great court vision and makes those around her better.

She is the undisputed leader of a team favored to win its fourth consecutive State championship on Saturday.

She leads by example and by voice.

Nicole Erickson is The Times Orange County player of the year--again.

Erickson’s ability transcends description. What can’t she do on a basketball court?

She creates baskets for herself and her teammates. She never gives up on a loose ball. She finds the open teammate. She is not concerned with statistics but rather the bottom line: winning.

The Ladycats are 32-0 this season. They have beaten three teams recognized by USA Today--two among the top 20 and another among the 10 best in the West Region.

Erickson, a 5-foot-6 guard, averaged only 15.7 points in her senior season. But she averaged 8.1 assists, shot 47% from the field this season, including 46.9% from the three-point arc. She shot 81% from the free-throw line.

She seldom played a full game, either. She doesn’t have to score more, but she could if she needed to. In a game against Lake Oswego (Ore.) Lakeridge this season, the Ladycats were facing highly touted Chandra Benton, a 6-foot-7 center bound for Stanford. Benton scored 28 points; Erickson scored 38 and the Ladycats won by nine. The night before, they beat a team ranked sixth in the nation by 10.

That’s as close as any team played Brea-Olinda all year.

There are other players in the county who are as physically gifted as Erickson, but few are able to get as much from their talent, leadership skills and determination.

Her greatest gift might be her presence, that quality that allows her to make a game-winning basket and treat it as another day at the office. She is businesslike when it comes to basketball, in practice and in games.

Most expect her to be as successful at Purdue, one of the nation’s top women’s basketball teams, as she has been at Brea-Olinda.

Erickson, an All-Orange County first-team member for the third consecutive year, plays on a level reached by few county girls. Much of that has to do with the talent that surrounds her. Brea-Olinda’s dynasty is unequaled--not even Mater Dei’s boys can claim four State championships, which is testimony to those who preceded her and who stand beside her now.

She has been a starter for the Ladycats since her first game as a freshman. Since then, the Ladycats have won 129 games and lost five--a 96% winning percentage.

That’s her legacy.