1995-96 GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PREVIEW : The Top of the Heap Is Getting Crowded : Girls’ basketball: Brea Olinda no longer the only team to beat for county supremacy.

It’s no longer just Brea Olinda.

The team that showed Orange County how to play girls’ basketball now has plenty of competition. Woodbridge and Mater Dei are in the top 10 in national polls. Fountain Valley, Edison and Marina appear to be every bit the Ladycats’ equal in this county.

The decline of Brea Olinda? Not exactly. The Ladycats aren’t the superpower they were with Nicole Erickson, but they’re still potent.

And this year, there’s plenty to talk about. The season is only a week old, and already it has been turned sideways by . . .

The injury: No doubt about it--the worst injury of the young season happened to Rosary’s Kathleen Celio, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee last week playing soccer. Celio has orally committed to play soccer next year at Santa Clara.

Celio, a 5-9 senior, was a second-team all-county selection last season, averaging 20.8 points, 13.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists. With her, Rosary was a top-10 team. Without her, they’re a team with a really tough schedule.

To put the injury in perspective: Ocean View’s Jennifer Tuiolosega had the same injury--but on her right knee--seven months ago, and was cleared to begin practice Monday.

Speaking of Tuiolosega: Ocean View Coach Ollie Martin put into perspective a player of Tuiolosega’s--or Celio’s--talents.

“It will be critical down the line when we get to the playoffs,” Martin said. “With the league being so much stronger this year, it’s hard to play really good teams without Jennifer. With her in there, there’s someone you have to guard all the time. She can play with anybody, and against real talented teams, you have to have someone like that.”

And for that reason, Martin is hoping for a rematch with Fountain Valley in the Marina tournament at the end of the month. The Barons beat Ocean View, without Tuiolosega, 69-42, last week.

G.R.: The team prayer, from El Dorado’s Jamie Nebeker, went like this:

“Let’s go out there tonight and make Gary proud of us and remember that we dedicate the season to him.”

Then El Dorado beat Fullerton, 89-17, in its first game of the season. On their shorts the Golden Hawks wore black patches with the initials GR--for former Coach Gary Raya, who died Sept. 7. He was 29.

“It was probably the first time anyone put it into words,” Nebeker said of her prayer. “No one ever said it, it was just understood.”

The two men running the game and shot clocks in the opener were familiar faces--Joe Raya, Gary’s father, and his brother, Matt.

“We’re here for ourselves,” Matt Raya said, “but also so the girls would see one of us here.”

Three M.P.s on the spot:

* Melanie Pearson, Woodbridge. She is bound for UCLA and the Warriors have won a state championship. The team is so talented that her numbers aren’t nearly as good as those standouts on lesser teams. But she’s ultimately the person the Warriors will look to lead them to a second state title.

* Melody Peterson, Mater Dei. She’s going to Stanford and was The Times’ Orange County player of the year as a junior. She whirls, she twirls and can do most anything. But can she win a state title like that two-time player of the year before her, Nicole Erickson?

* Marie Philman, Edison. She’s going to UCLA. She dominated opponents despite being the sole threat on a team that improved more than any other last year. Now, those role players who fed her the ball have developed some skills. Can Philman lead them to a section title?

Three coaches on the spot:

* Pat Quinn, Woodbridge. Tracey Roberts, assistant to former Coach Eric Bangs, directed the team over the summer. He had four starters back. Bangs endorsed him. Everyone thought Roberts was going to get the job. Surprise.

* Mary Mulligan, San Clemente. She said last year that this was the Tritons’ year. Ten days ago, they would have been a top-10 team. Then they lost their first three, and face a killer schedule. They can make up for it in the playoffs.

* Pete Belanto, Capistrano Valley. Injuries, or players moving away have given the Cougars excuses for their past two disappointing seasons. No one will feel sorry for them this year. The Cougars got transfers Mary Anderson and Jenny Jennings, who started last year at Newport Harbor.

The game to watch: Most anticipated game of the year will take place Dec. 20, if Woodbridge and Oregon City, Ore., meet as expected in the semifinals of the Lady Wolves tournament at Henderson (Nev.) Basic High School.

Oregon City (25-1 last year) finished last season ranked No. 1 in USA Today’s national poll and is the preseason No. 1 this year. Woodbridge (33-1) was ranked 14th last year and is 10th in this season’s preseason poll. However, Cal-Hi Sports has Woodbridge ranked No. 1 in its national ranking.

Brea Olinda and Edison also are in that tournament and could meet in the semifinals.

The underrated:

* Tamara Inouye, Laguna Hills. An unknown talent at guard.

* Natalie Nakase, Marina. Guard won’t go unnoticed this year.

* Andrea Picchi, Magnolia. An Orange League standout who isn’t at Brea Olinda.

* Adrienne Ratajczak, Western. Soft shooting touch.

* Taylor Stokes, University. Terrific athlete overshadowed by teammates.

Long, winding road: If Jenny Jennings ever asks you to “walk a mile in my shoes,” you better be ready for a marathon.

Jennings went to seventh grade at Costa Mesa Junior High, the feeder for Costa Mesa High. She went to eighth grade at TeWinkle, the feeder school to Estancia, which she attended as a freshman. She played basketball as a sophomore at Newport Harbor. This year, she’s playing at Capistrano Valley.

Counting California Elementary, the feeder to TeWinkle, Jennings has been to six schools in six years.

“My parents wanted me to go to Costa Mesa, so but it was real hard leaving my friends that I grew up with, so I went back to TeWinkle,” Jennings said. “Things didn’t work out at Estancia. I was having trouble academically at Newport Harbor and it wasn’t working out, and I want to go to college, and you have to have the grades to go to college. I was never attached to Newport Harbor--I didn’t have that many friends.”

And where will she be next year?

“I’m going to be at Capo Valley, for sure,” she said.

Big shoes to fill: Three teams that finished in the top 10 last year have new coaches.

* Bangs (296-69) resigned from No. 1 Woodbridge and is replaced by Quinn.

* Shannon Jakosky (102-59) resigned from No. 8 Newport Harbor and is replaced by Bob Dukus.

* El Dorado’s Raya (83-24) died, and is replaced by Brown.

How good might they have been? All those rumors of Mater Dei getting a key transfer weren’t totally unfounded. Jennifer Gray, from Detroit, applied to Mater Dei, but there were apparently hang-ups with the paperwork, according to Hauser.

Gray, a 6-2 senior, is enrolled at Santa Ana Valley. She did participate in the Mater Dei summer camp, and she was impressive.

That’s not too surprising. She is the cousin of former Mater Dei standout Miles Simon--The Times Orange County boys’ basketball player of the year in 1992-93 and 1993-94.

Gray has reapplied to Mater Dei.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Top 10

1. Woodbridge

The Warriors have four starters back from a team that went 33-1, and bench players who got plenty of playoff experience last year. Easy choice.

2. Mater Dei

Whereas Woodbridge has an entire lineup unafraid to step up, the Monarchs need more than Melody Peterson.

3. Fountain Valley

Any team with Nicole Strange and Jennifer Ludwicki can be a top-10 team--and this team could go even higher with a little help.

4. Edison

The Chargers have, perhaps, the county’s dominant force in Marie Philman. If her teammates develop the way we think they did, this team rolls.

5. Brea Olinda

Lack of height will hurt some nights, but cohesiveness and knowing how to win count for something.

6. Marina

Three solid starters, Sonya Bryant, Natalie Nakase and Kirsten Cappel, return from a traditionally well-coached team.

7. Ocean View

Five starters return, including a premier playmaker in Jennifer Tuiolosega and post person in Becky Fraser. That’s enough.

8. El Dorado

An intriguing team to watch with talent in the front and back court, and they’re playing in memory of their former coach, Gary Raya, who died Sept. 7 at age 29.

9. Westminster

The Lions might rise higher than this as the transfers mix with leftover talent from last year, including firepower off the bench in Erin Moore.

10. Capistrano Valley

The Cougars have two starters back, and got two transfers who started for a 22-6 Newport Harbor team.