Prep Fans in Frenzy for 3 O.C. Teams

Charles Galvez is bald. The self-professed ladies’ man of the Pacifica High School basketball team has lost his beloved hairstyle.

Oh, but the lucky ones got a piece of him Wednesday night. Galvez’s locks were among the items auctioned off to help raise money for the Mariners’ trip to Oakland for their first state championship game Saturday. Call it a hair fair for air fare.

For three Orange County high schools, interest in basketball is peaking as the prep version of March Madness reaches its conclusion. At the Oakland Coliseum Arena, the girls of Woodbridge High in Irvine will be going for their first state Division II title tonight. The Ladycats of Brea-Olinda, a perennial state powerhouse, play Saturday for a record fifth Division III championship.

But the real frenzy is in Garden Grove, where Galvez and his teammates at Pacifica have become local heroes during their drive from obscurity to Saturday’s Division III final against Foothill High of Sacramento. A banner hangs across Chapman Avenue; players have spoken and made presentations at local functions; local businesses, service organizations and rival high schools have lent their support, and one rabid fan has even written poems in the team’s honor.

“I can’t remember when people in the community have gotten this excited about a team,” Mayor Frank Kessler said.

Nothing has been too outlandish at Pacifica. From their rabid following to their unconventional style of play, things have been fast and loose around the school.

This is, after all, a team that has its tall players shoot three-pointers from long range, while the smaller players post up inside. It’s an upside-down philosophy that has turned opponents inside out.

“It’s all a game, and it’s all fun,” said Bob Becker, the first-year coach. “It’s just been a fun group. They have worked hard, and now they are enjoying the rewards of that hard work. They are going off to Oakland.

“Boy, I have to say that to myself about 50 times. We’re going off to Oakland. It’s unbelievable.”

Pinch yourself, baby. It’s real.

State championship games are almost run-of-the-mill stuff at Brea-Olinda, playing in its sixth consecutive title game.

Their send-off will be heartfelt but businesslike. The only pep rally will be held in Oakland, before the game.

Still, interest is running high. About 300 to 500 fans are expected to make the trip.

At Woodbridge, students were released from school Thursday at 12:10 and given sticks of Big Red gum (the school’s colors are red, white and gold) before attending a rally.

T-shirts emblazoned with the Warriors’ motto--”Play Like a Champion”--were handed out to the players. The band played the school song, and faculty and students performed the tomahawk chop as the team boarded a bus for the airport. About 300 fans were expected to make the trip.

But while the Ladycats and Warriors are enjoying a moment in the sun, Pacifica’s Mariners are getting a deep tan.

Wednesday night, Pacifica students, school employees and the community turned out to watch a team scrimmage. Becker also held the silent auction to raise funds.

Galvez, a senior guard, did bring in a tidy little sum with his hair. “Charles claimed that we would raise enough money for the trip from his hair alone,” Becker said. “Maybe if we sold it by the strand.”

Jon Surface, a senior forward, gave basketball shoes. Erik Maurer, a senior forward, donated his earrings. The always-dapper Chris Vlasic tossed in a nearly empty mousse can; it went for a dollar.

“I must have signed 100 autographs Wednesday night,” Vlasic said. “It’s kind of weird.”

The team raised $2,500.

“Everyone is talking about the team,” Pacifica Principal Mike Lombardi said. “In stores and supermarkets and barbershops, everyone seems to be aware.”

The Rotary Club chipped in $500 after Vlasic, a senior forward, spoke at the club’s Tuesday afternoon meeting. That evening, he made a presentation to district officials at a school board meeting.

“We had to send Chris to those meetings,” Becker said. “He’s the only one on the team that looks good in a suit. That includes the coaches.”

But there has been more that just monetary support:

* Parents spent hours at a time painting the canvas banner on Chapman. They worked on it for three days--nearly fainting because of paint fumes--after the Mariners’ victory over San Dimas in the Southern Section Division III-A championship game.

* The girls’ basketball team from Rancho Alamitos, a rival school, has adopted the Mariners, supplying cookies, cupcakes and posters during the playoff run.

* Paul Gaughen, who doesn’t have a kid on the team, has written a poem for each playoff game. Before a game against the Pasadena Blair Vikings, he wrote: “Tuesday evening, the Mariner ship was ready to leave; 45 miles is a long way to sail; It was a Viking vessel we were out to nail. . . .”

How many basketball teams have a poet laureate?

“We had people in the community calling to offer kids tickets to the (Southern Section) championship game,” Becker said. “They wanted to make sure that students who couldn’t afford tickets still got to go to the game.”

Never more so than last Thursday, after the Mariners’ come-from-behind victory over San Diego St. Augustine in the regional semifinals.

Forward Maurer sprained his ankle in the game and missed the entire second half. Afterward, a local chiropractor opened his office so Maurer could be treated. They were there until 12:30 a.m.

“We were walking out, and Erik’s mom told me that she had offered him money for his services, but he wouldn’t take it,” Becker said. “She said, ‘Do you believe these people?’ ”

What the community has fallen for is a team that has taken almost everyone by surprise.

Pacifica (30-1) has won 28 consecutive games, seven in the playoffs. But winning wasn’t the issue.

“I have never used the word winning ,” Becker said. “We talk about hard work.”

The Mariners got a new definition for that with Becker.

After coaching Rancho Alamitos’ girls for four seasons, he was hired last spring. The players had no idea what was in store.

“Some of the Rancho girls told us about him,” senior forward Ramon Alliman said. “All the conditioning, the midnight practice and the drills. We didn’t believe it.”

About the time Alliman was running with a truck tire tied to his waist, he was ready to believe.

“About a week into practice, Ramon came home and said, ‘This guy is crazy,’ ” said Yvonne Alliman, his mother. “He was so exhausted that he would fall asleep wearing the same clothes he practiced in.”

So far, the only team to beat the Mariners is Orange, in a tournament final in early December. Since then, Pacifica has worn down one team after another with its press-until-they-stress style.

The Mariners rallied from 22 points down against St. Augustine. They were down by 11 at halftime against University of San Diego High in the regional final, then ran the Dons down and won, 60-55.

“Those Pacifica guys come at you 100 m.p.h. all the time,” Dons center Josh Merrill said. “They never let up.”

Becker always uses 11 players in the first quarter, then rotates them throughout the game. The style is unique, as is his offensive philosophy.

Vlasic, who is 6-5, is the team’s top three-point shooter. Surface, who is 6-8, is a close second. Meanwhile, the 6-1 Alliman works inside.

“It makes us tough to defend,” Becker said.

It also makes them fun to watch.

Students are not only showing up for games, they have become a force that has pushed the team, with banners, painted faces and just plain noise.

This from a school that has cared little about basketball in the past. Yet, winning the Garden Grove League title--the Mariners first since 1971--changed that.

“ ‘Pathetica’ used to be the mentality here,” said Karen Boehnke, a 16-year-old junior. “Now it’s fun to able to brag about your school.”

Crowds have swelled with each victory. Approximately 700 fans are expected in Oakland.

Nothing can keep them from a Pacifica game. One night poet Gaughen’s car broke down, so he rode his bicycle from Garden Grove to east Anaheim for a game.

“There is a spirit here, a sense of belonging,” Principal Lombardi said. “I think the students have seen the value of hard work, that it can get you where you want to go. That’s not an easy lesson to teach.”

And as role models, the Mariners have been ideal.

The Monday after they won the sectional title, the players and coaches visited Children’s Hospital of Orange County, handing out gifts and talking to the kids. They also participated in the community’s Little League parade the day of the sectional championship game.

On the court, the players don’t talk smack to opponents or make outrageous gestures.

“There is a lot of enthusiasm from students that might not usually be that excited about high school,” said Ron Malmquist, a social science and physical education teacher.

That excitement will send the team off this morning. After a pep rally, students will form a human tunnel, leading from the gym to the bus. Hurdles will be placed along the route, 31 of them, representing each game.

Corny? Sure.

Fun? Absolutely.

“Since basketball started, I’ve been going to games with people I really hadn’t done that much with before,” said Joi Guenther, a senior. “Everybody now has basketball in common.”

Times staff writers Alicia Di Rado, Martin Henderson and Jason Reid contributed to this story.