GIRLS’ BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS : She Can Push Them Over Top : Division II girls: Warriors believe Duperron is the key to bringing State title to Woodbridge.

For the second year in a row, the Woodbridge girls’ basketball team has reached the summit, better known as the State final. But for the second year in a row, the Warriors will play Sacramento El Camino in the Division II championship game. That’s defending champion El Camino, which won last year’s game, 71-38.

But this season, the Warriors have added a player who they believe can take them over the top in Friday night’s rematch at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Krissy Duperron may be only a sophomore and in only her first year at Woodbridge, but on a team loaded with such potential Division I players as Angela Burgess, Melanie Pearson and Erin Stovall, she still stands out.

“What you notice is how she does the little things,” Woodbridge Coach Eric Bangs said. “Her nose for the ball is real obvious. And so is her ability on defense. She is second or third on the team in steals. She has an ability to anticipate the pass from the post area, get around her assignment and steal the ball. We found out she was much quicker than we thought.”

Never was Duperron’s defensive intensity more evident than in Saturday’s Southern California Regional final against Brea Olinda. Although Woodbridge used a matchup zone throughout the game, Duperron was credited with helping to hold the Ladycats’ high-scoring forward, Lee Moulin, to a two-for-11 shooting, six-point performance.

Duperron, 16, isn’t interested in adulation. Ever since her family returned to Orange County and she transferred to Woodbridge from Riverside Notre Dame, she has tried simply to be one of the girls.

“I had heard the team was a close-knit family, but they pretty much accepted me from the start. That really helped,” Duperron said. It was real hard to leave my friends at Notre Dame. That’s what I miss most right now. But I’ve made new ones here.”

And if she can help the Warriors defeat El Camino, Duperron will have more friends than she thought possible.

She also has Bangs and his assistants excited by the notion that they will have her for two more seasons. As a sophomore, the 5-foot-10 Duperron immediately fit into the Warriors’ scheme. In their 33 games, she has averaged 13 points and nine rebounds, shooting .516 from the field (143 for 277) and .722 from the free-throw line (127 for 176).

Duperron’s finest asset, according to her coaches, is her selflessness--her willingness to set screens, dive for loose balls and fight for every rebound. Nearly half of Duperron’s 297 boards (143) have come on the offensive end.

The sweet-faced kid with the deadpan sense of humor, as Bangs describes her, is a ferocious inside player.

“The first time I saw Krissy was in an AAU tournament game,” Bangs recalled. “She seemed like a real scrapper, but otherwise was undistinguished. So I didn’t appreciate her until I got her in here and saw her work out with us in the fall.

“We want to expand her game next year--improve her ballhandling on the perimeter and in the running game. We’ll want her to face the basket more than just play with her back to it. But she’s so strong around the basket you hate to take her away from that.”

Duperron’s father, Gary, is a basketball coach who has worked at Servite and Riverside Notre Dame, and is now at North Torrance. He says he didn’t push his daughter into the game, but she took readily to it.

“She grew tall early,” Gary Duperron said. “She used to dominate on some of the boys’ teams she played on up to the sixth grade. I think (playing against boys) is what’s made her such an effective inside player.”

Krissy Duperron says heart and hard work have made her the player she is, and Woodbridge the team it is. It’s what helped the Warriors defeat Brea Olinda twice this season, earned them their No. 1 state ranking, and set up their rematch with El Camino.

“From what the coaches tell me, (the Eagles) were very, very good last year,” Duperron said. “They lost some players but also gained a bunch this year. Their bench is the same as their starters; there’s no drop-off. But if we play tough defense, I think we can shut them down.”