With a Little Help, Ladycats Look Like No. 1 : Poll: Nation’s top-ranked team loses, meaning No. 2 Brea-Olinda likely will take its place in rankings.

As the Brea-Olinda girls’ basketball players sat in an interview room Saturday, trying hard not to cry after a perfect 33-0 season, Lee Moulin’s mother, Dede, walked into the room after a call to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. She said only two words:

“Pickerington lost.”

The on-court celebration a few minutes earlier was small compared to the flood of emotion that bounced off the walls now. Brea-Olinda Coach John Hattrup thrust his arms into the air and yelled “Yes!”

Nicole Erickson jumped up and down, screaming “I told you all, I told you all,” then fell to the floor in tears as senior sub Tammy Banks leaned over her, holding Erickson’s hands.

Everyone jumped to their feet except for Susan Rhodabarger, who sat in her chair, shocked, unable to move.

Pickerington, Ohio, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, according to USA Today, was beaten by Garfield Heights Trinity, 59-54, in the Ohio State Division I championship game Saturday.

That left Brea-Olinda, now No. 2, as the probable “national champion” when the next poll is released Wednesday.

“If we were going to be No. 1, this is the time; now we can be No. 1, and there’s no challenge, there’s no game to play,” said Hattrup, a first-year coach after being an assistant in the Ladycat program for five years. “This is so unbelievable. This season is just an absolute dream.

“I said when I coached Mission Viejo (to the State championship game in 1982), I’d never have another team like that. Five years later, we won the section title, and I said the same thing. But this group--I don’t know how you can top this group.

“(Former Coach) Mark Trakh really deserves a lot of credit for this; he built the house, and I’m just renting. He’s the one that got the girls to this level; without him, we wouldn’t be here.”

Brea-Olinda, in the midst of a 54-game winning streak and a 130-5 record since Erickson became the starting point guard, opened the year 15th in the poll.

In the Etiwanda tournament final early in the season, the Ladycats defeated Lynwood, 55-40. Lynwood, ranked seventh in the current poll, was beaten by No. 9 Atherton Sacred Heart, 59-53, in Saturday’s Division I title game.

By the time the Ladycats played in the Alaska Invitational at the end of December, they were fifth. There, they beat then-No. 6 Trinity and Lake Oswego (Ore.) Lakeridge, which later defeated Oregon City, a team also ranked ahead of Brea-Olinda.

The 63-54 victory over Lakeridge--and 6-foot-7, Stanford-bound center Chandra Benton--was the Ladycats’ biggest challenge and their closest game; Brea-Olinda led by two with six minutes left before Erickson caught fire, finishing with 38 points. Benton scored 28.

“This group is unbelievable,” Hattrup said after the Ladycats got the news. “You can see it in this room; they can’t even talk. They’re speechless because this means so much to them. Unbelievable.

“This has been a dream season. Everything has gone perfect, and for that to happen--it’s like Nicole said, it’s the cherry on top of the sundae. Everything and then some.”

Erickson was sporting a “Quad Squad, 1990-1994” T-shirt--replete with caricatures of everyone on the team--after exiting the locker room. The scenario was especially meaningful to her. She recalled telling a reporter after winning the Southern Section title her freshman season that the Ladycats would be No. 1 in the nation her senior season.

“In my entire life,” Erickson said, “I don’t think I’ve had a better day: unbeaten, State championship, national championship.”