STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Unbeaten Brea Sets State Mark With Fifth Title : Division III girls: Ladycats defeat San Jose Archbishop Mitty, 55-44, to finish season with 33-0 record.

Upon pregame introductions at center court, Brea-Olinda basketball players handed their opponents shirts emblazoned with “Ladycat basketball” on it.

It was, as they say in the game show biz, a lovely parting gift.

The shirt was the only thing Brea-Olinda gave to San Jose Archbishop Mitty on Saturday, except a 54-44 loss in the State Division III girls’ championship game.

The Ladycats (33-0) walked off the Oakland Coliseum Arena court with considerably more than they gave up, including a probable No. 1 ranking in a national poll.

They left with a state-record fifth State championship, including a record-tying fourth in a row. Their appearance was a record sixth in a row. They left with 54 consecutive victories, and plenty of tears.

Four seniors--Nicole Erickson, Colleen Hudson (six points, seven rebounds), Sarah Beckley (eight points, eight rebounds) and Susan Rhodabarger--played on four consecutive State championship teams.

“For these four years, this has been the best girls’ basketball program in the state,” Brea-Olinda Coach John Hattrup said. “To come here this many years in a row--they’ll never be topped as a group. There’s no Terri Mann or Cheryl Miller. Our ‘stud’ is 5 foot 6 and she’s not the best athlete out there, but she plays with a heart as big as this room and everyone feeds off it.”

Mann played for San Diego Point Loma, which won four State titles from 1983-87; Miller played for Riverside Poly, which won 84 consecutive games from 1978-82. Both were dominant post players who were women among girls in stature and talent.

Brea-Olinda’s star is Erickson, and the program has been 130-5 since she started her first varsity game as a freshman. The point guard whose 12-footer with 3.5 seconds left gave the Ladycats a 42-41 victory over Fair Oaks Bella Vista in last year’s State championship, Erickson was unfazed by Archbishop Mitty’s full-court press.

Brea-Olinda scored 15 points off of 19 Archbishop Mitty turnovers. The Monarchs scored five points off of 12 Brea-Olinda turnovers. Erickson had a team-high 16 points, five steals and five assists.

“Her consistency of taking care of the basketball is unbelievable,” said Archbishop Mitty Coach Sue Phillips, whose team finished 27-3. “It’s not just her scoring ability, but because of her decision-making. She handled the press better than anybody we’ve seen. I can see why she’s going to Purdue.”

Erickson’s poise was contagious among her teammates. After missing nine of their first 10 shots, the Ladycats continued to look for the open man, rebounded effectively and never fell prey to Archbishop Mitty’s tempo.

“We had Plan A and B and we went with all of them,” Phillips said. “They handled our various presses--we went man press, we went zone press, we went man-to-man, we went zone. We tried a variety of things and they were very well prepared. They’re an experienced group and we’re young.”

Brea-Olinda had four starters from last year’s State champion. Archbishop Mitty started one senior, two juniors and two sophomores, and the disparity showed.

Archbishop Mitty’s last lead was 14-13 with 7:20 left in the second quarter. Then Brea-Olinda reveled in the rhythm of the game. They put on a passing clinic and scored six in a row: Hudson scored on a layup, Erickson scored on a 6-foot running jumper and Beckley scored on a layup off Hudson’s nifty pass.

The Ladycats also were scoring on second and third shots. And junior Lee Moulin (11 points) asserted herself at the end of the quarter, scoring six of Brea-Olinda’s final eight points to give the Ladycats a 31-25 lead at halftime.

Archbishop Mitty continued to tinker with its plans, and opened the third quarter in a zone defense.

Bad idea. Moulin buried her second three-pointer, Erickson was good from 15 feet and the Monarchs went back to a man defense. Sophomore Kiyoko Miller was good from 15 feet and then Erickson came back with a three-pointer as the shot clock expired. Brea-Olinda’s lead was 12 entering the fourth quarter, 45-33.

Erickson scored off her steal to open the fourth. It was then a 14-point game, and Archbishop Mitty had not scored more than 13 points in any quarter.

The 54 points was Brea-Olinda’s lowest total of the season (they beat Lynwood, 55-40) and the 10-point margin of victory was the second-lowest. The Ladycats beat Lake Oswego (Ore.) Lakeridge by nine points and Garfield Heights (Ohio) Trinity by 10. At the time, Brea-Olinda was ranked fifth and Trinity sixth in the nation in a USA Today poll.

Brea-Olinda’s two previous State championship victories had been much closer. The Ladycats won by one last year, and beat Healdsburg, 47-44, the year before as Erickson’s three-pointer with 30 seconds left iced the victory. They defeated Hayward Moreau, 54-46, in 1991.

The Ladycats were ranked second in the nation going into the game. Trinity, the team they beat earlier, defeated the No. 1 team, Pickerington, 59-54, in Saturday’s Ohio State girls’ championship.

After being through so much together--setting their goal of being an unbeaten State champion and then beating three nationally rated teams to do it--the postgame scene was emotional.

“This is like the ending of a piece of our lives we can never have back again,” Erickson said, fighting back tears. “We’ve worked so hard for this. We’ve reached the dream. It’s so hard when you reach your dream and do everything you’ve wanted to do. It’s really special for us.”

* BEST IN U.S.?: Brea-Olinda probably will be No. 1 in this week’s national girls’ poll. C12

* FINISHING THE JOB: Mater Dei’s conqueror, Los Angeles Crenshaw, wins the Division I boys’ title. C12

The Streak

The Brea-Olinda girls’ basketball team’s 54-game winning streak, third-longest in Southern Section history and one short of the school record (last loss was to Mountain View of Orem, Utah, 59-46, on Jan. 8, 1993):

1. 1/9/93 Fair Oaks Del Campo 81-72

Orange County Challenge at Brea-Olinda

2. 1/12/93 Western 87-33

3. 1/14/93 Valencia 81-32

4. 1/16/93 La Habra 79-32

5. 1/19/93 Anaheim 79-11

6. 1/21/93 Savanna 88-38

Nicole Erickson made 11 three-point bas kets--one short of the section record--on the way to a career-high 46 points.

7. 1/26/93 Magnolia 98-25

8. 1/28/93 Western 94-39

9. 1/30/93 Long Beach Millikan 91-44

10. 2/2/93 Valencia 87-26

11. 1/9/93 Anaheim 113-26

12. 1/9/93 Savanna 77-27

Victory clinched 11th consecutive Orange League championship.

13. 2/2/93 Magnolia 72-18

Finished with a 10-0 Orange League record, stretching league winning streak to 61 games and 107 of 108.

14. 2/19/93 Ocean View 72-36

Southern Section Division II-AA

15. 2/27/93 Burbank Burroughs 85-36

Southern Section Division II-AA

16. 3/2/93 Hemet 76-48

Southern Section Division II-AA

17. 3/6/93 Cerritos Gahr 75-39

Southern Section Division II-AA at Loyola Marymount; won fifth section title in a row.

18. 3/9/93 Ventura 77-41

Southern California Division II regional; Nicole Erickson broke Da Houl’s school record of 613 points in one season.

19. 3/11/93 Carlsbad 64-55

Southern California Division II regional; Nicole Erickson hit a game-tying three-pointer in the final minute of regulation, then scored eight of Brea-Olinda’s 10 points in overtime.

20. 3/13/93 San Diego University City 45-39

Southern California Division II regional at Sports Arena; championship was a record fifth in a row.

21. 3/20/93 Fair Oaks Bella Vista 42-41

CIF Division II State championship game at Oakland Coliseum Arena; Nicole Erickson’s 12-foot jumper with 3.5 seconds remaining gave Brea-Olinda its fourth State title in five years.

22. 12/1/93 Claremont 83-12

Etiwanda tournament

23. 12/2/93 Ridgecrest Burroughs 86-30

Etiwanda tournament

24. 12/3/93 Etiwanda 77-34

Etiwanda tournament

25. 12/4/93 Lynwood 55-40

Etiwanda tournament; Brea-Olinda, top- ranked in the state, defeated second-ranked Lynwood, the defending State Division I champion.

26. 12/6/93 Pasadena 98-27

Ladycat Classic

27. 12/8/93 Rancho Cucamonga 85-33

Ladycat Classic

28. 12/10/93 Torrance Bishop Montgomery 76-34

Ladycat Classic

29. 12/11/93 Cerritos Gahr 65-38

Ladycat Classic; Nicole Erickson named MVP as Brea-Olinda wins own tournament.

30. 12/28/93 Palmer Colony (Alaska) 73-54

Service (Alaska) Invitational

31. 12/29/93 Garfield (Ohio) Trinity 65-55

Service (Alaska) Invitational; defeated na tion’s sixth-ranked team.

32. 12/30/93 Lake Oswego (Ore.) Lakeridge 63-54

Service (Alaska) Invitational; Nicole Erick son scored 38 points and was named MVP in leading Brea-Olinda to championship.

33. 1/6/94 Magnolia 72-15

34. 1/8/94 El Dorado 84-37

35. 1/11/94 Anaheim 101-19

36. 1/13/94 Western 111-35

37. 1/15/94 Capistrano Valley 72-31

38. 1/18/94 Valencia 75-25

39. 1/20/94 Savanna 87-18

40. 1/22/94 Mater Dei 65-49

Nicole Erickson scored 20 points to push her career total to 1,808, breaking the girls’ school record of 1,797 set by Aimee McDaniel from 1988-90.

41. 1/25/94 Magnolia 90-20

Forty-first victory in a row tied Cerritos Gahr (1978-80) for third-longest on all-time Southern Section list. 42. 2/1/94 Anaheim 112-23

43. 2/3/94 Western 120-17

44. 2/5/94 Ontario 75-43

45. 2/8/94 Valencia 81-25

Victory clinched 12th consecutive Orange League title, tying Southern Section record set by Cerritos Valley Christian (1971-82).

46. 2/10/94 Savanna 110-16

Finished with a 10-0 Orange League record, stretching league winning streak to 71 games and 117 of 118.

47. 2/19/93 Fullerton 90-36

Southern Section Division III-AA

48. 2/23/93 Magnolia 85-15

Southern Section Division III-AA

49. 2/26/93 Torrance Bishop Montgomery 65-36

Southern Section Division III-AA

50. 3/5/93 Newport Harbor 70-40

Southern Section Division III-AA at Cal Poly Pomona; won sixth section title in a row.

51. 3/8/93 San Diego Scripps Ranch 75-43

Southern California Division III regional

52. 3/10/93 San Luis Obispo 86-33

Southern California Division III regional; last home game for starters Nicole Erickson, Colleen Hudson and Sarah Beckley.

53. 3/12/93 Newport Harbor 67-39

Southern California Division III regional at Anaheim Arena; championship was a record sixth in a row.

54. 3/19/93 San Jose Archbishop Mitty 54-44

CIF Division III State championship game at Oakland Coliseum Arena; Brea-Olinda’s fifth State title in six years was also their fourth in a row, tying the record of San Diego Point Loma (1983-87).