GIRLS’ BASKETBALL 1994-1995: ORANGE LEAGUE : Moulin Has Touch to Keep Brea Going : Basketball: Senior shooting guard is confident that the Ladycats will continue winning despite loss of last season’s stars.

It still seems sort of strange.

Every day Brea-Olinda senior shooting guard Lee Moulin takes the court for practice, she has to look twice.

She is no longer surrounded by Nicole Erickson, Colleen Hudson and Sarah Beckley.

Her supporting cast now consists of Jennifer Saari, Dawn Metz and Sarah Zachry.

And the man running the drills isn’t Mark Trakh or John Hattrup, it’s Coach Jeff Sink.

“It’s weird not playing with them because when I started really playing on the team, Nicole and the rest were the leaders on the team,” Moulin said. “It’s kind of different when you go out there and you are used to seeing them.”

Moulin is one of three returning seniors and one of only two starters back from last season’s 33-0 Division III State champions.

The loss of the three senior starters leaves doubt as to whether the Ladycats can win their fifth consecutive State title.

“After Jody (Anton) graduated, everyone said, ‘Oh, you guys aren’t going to win,’ and after Nicole graduated, everyone said the same thing,” Moulin said. “What we lose in some ways I think we make up in others. I think it’s going to be a tough season. It’s really a rebuilding year for us.

“This is a different team. Last year’s team was really good, but we have a better, overall deeper bench. I think this year everyone is just a little better, but last year’s is a pretty hard team to top.”

The Ladycats still have Moulin, considered one of the best outside shooters to ever play for Brea.

Last season, Moulin was a first-team All-Orange League selection, averaging 9.2 points. She was also seventh in the county in three-point percentage (41.9%) and ranked among the county leaders in field-goal (48.1%) and free-throw (69%) percentage.

“A shooting touch like hers, to a degree, is natural ability,” Sink said. “But the finesse, stroke and smoothness of hers is due to hours of practice by herself. She has an excellent work ethic.”

With the loss of five seniors to graduation, Sink said Moulin will be required to be a Jack-of-all-trades this season.

“I think for the first time in her career, she will be asked to do many things,” Sink said. “She is primarily a scorer, so we want to maintain that, but she will also be posting up against man defenses because she is tall for a guard.

“She is going to have to rebound and really play both ends of the court.”

Moulin believes she is up to the challenge.

“I just want to play good,” Moulin said. “If that’s scoring a lot or rebounding or passing, that’s fine. I just really want to win for the team. It doesn’t really matter individually.”

Moulin said she thinks this season--her third full season as a Ladycat after being called up for postseason play as a freshman--will be her toughest.

“As far as the team goes, everyone’s just as excited and ready to go for the season,” she said. “It’s hard to tell right now, but I think we have the desire and I think that you should never count Brea out, no matter who we lose.”

Sink agrees.

“It is going to be a stressful year in many ways,” Sink said. “But Lee is quite an outstanding emotional leader. She is exciting to coach. She helps everyone and looks at this season as a positive challenge.”

After her senior year is complete, Moulin won’t be straying far from home. She announced two weeks ago that she will attend Cal State Fullerton.

“I was looking at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and there wasn’t anything that I didn’t like. But I think, for me, Cal State Fullerton is better.”

1993-94 / IN REVIEW

Standings

League Overall School W L W L Brea-Olinda 10 0 33 0 Magnolia 7 3 18 9 Valencia 6 4 13 10 Western 5 5 11 14 Anaheim 1 9 6 13 Savanna 1 9 4 17

Highlights

For the fourth consecutive year, Brea-Olinda won a State championship. The Ladycats cruised through the Southern Section Division III-AA playoffs, topping Fullerton, Magnolia, Bishop Montgomery and Newport Harbor by an average of 46 points. Brea had little trouble in the Division III State tournament as well. The top-seeded Ladycats topped San Diego Scripps Ranch, San Luis Obispo and Newport Harbor--again--for their fifth title in six years. Magnolia got past La Habra and Rancho Verde in the first two rounds in the III-AA playoffs before falling to Brea-Olinda. Valencia also fared well in the postseason, beating La Mirada on the road in the first round of the Division II-A playoffs. The Tigers then lost to eventual champion Mission Hills Alemany, 61-30, in the second round. . . . Brea’s Nicole Erickson earned the league’s Player of the Year award and was named Times Orange County Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Erickson averaged 15.7 points and eight assists. She was also among the county leaders in field goal, three-point and free-throw percentages. Brea’s other four starters, Colleen Hudson, Sarah Beckley, Lee Moulin and Kiyoko Miller, were also all-league first-team selections. Valencia’s LaQuinta Alexander and Cindi Judd earned first-team honors, as did Jennifer Christensen and Isabel Rojas from Western. Magnolia’s Doug Romeo was named league coach of the year.