She Gets Warriors Through Rough Spots

Unlike the other senior in Woodbridge’s starting lineup, Tami Weaver doesn’t look like a basketball player.

Unlike Melanie Pearson, the other senior, Weaver’s statistical dossier doesn’t bellow, “Read me!”

But on a team ranked No. 1 in the state, No. 6 in the nation and expected to win its third consecutive Southern Section title, point guard Tami Weaver is worth taking a good look at.

She doesn’t make mistakes. She breaks presses. She calls the offensive plays. She changes defensive alignments. She might make only three baskets all night, but one will inevitably be a three-pointer late in the third quarter that deflates the opposition.

That’s her trademark. She nails the coffin shut.

When opponents are making their run at the Warriors, Weaver is dribbling toward destiny.

“She has a calming attitude on whoever might be nervous,” Woodbridge Coach Pat Quinn said. “She never shows any nerves. She’s always in control, and that’s what the girls look for in her. When things are hectic and everyone’s a little wired up, it’s like, ‘Give it to Tami, she’ll bring it down, calm everyone down and make sure we’re not out of sync.’ ”

There have been few times this season when Woodbridge has been out of sync. The Warriors are 27-2 and eyeing their second consecutive state championship. But first things first--the section II-AA championship game against Riverside J.W. North (23-5) tonight in the Pyramid at Long Beach State.

Weaver has been in as many big games as any player in Orange County. She started 15 games after being brought up to the varsity midway through her freshman year. The past four seasons, Woodbridge is 113-9, 92-3 the past three.

She said she was always easygoing, even as a freshman on the varsity, “but as time went on, I realized that was my role.”

She’s smart enough to know Pearson and Erin Stovall are this team’s scorers, and Pearson and Krissy Duperron its rebounders.

“My role was to be the leader, call the plays and make sure they know what they’re doing and bring it together,” Weaver said.

“Sometimes things get a little out of control and they look at and me and I just know how to handle situations--it’s just point-guard stuff.”

Weaver has modest statistics--3.5 assists, 5.3 points--but Quinn says the assist totals aren’t padded. “When she passes the ball at half court and the girl dribbles twice and scores on a layup, we don’t count that as an assist, though we probably could because I think a lot of other people do.”

Weaver couldn’t care less. “From playing at Woodbridge and realizing my role at an early age, [statistics have] never bothered me,” she said. “What matters is that we keep winning and having fun.”

That attitude is typical. She is so laid back, “she would have fit in with the ‘60s,” Quinn said. “She comes in with her sandals on. . . . You’d never spot her on campus and say, ‘There’s the point guard.’ ”

But she is the point guard, and that won’t go unnoticed by those closest to the Warrior program.

“I think she’s going to be remembered for running the show with some real good basketball players around her and being the unsung hero all the time,” Quinn said. “She’s not the first one anyone talks to or the last one anybody remembers--other than the coach.”