Shots Didn’t Fall, so Ladycats Did

Brea Olinda may have been the best-shooting girls’ basketball team in Orange County, but it couldn’t throw a pea in the ocean--or a basketball in the Pond--in the Southern California final Saturday against Laguna Hills.

Brea had four starters shooting 50% or higher and five shooting 44% or higher. The Ladycats were a collective 42.5% from beyond the three-point line.

But in Laguna Hills’ 40-29 victory over Brea, the Ladycats shot so poorly, and it was such an aberration, the totals were comical: 12 of 58 overall (20.7%), one of 23 from the three-point line (4.3%).

“If we shoot 40% [on three-pointers], it’s a different game,” Coach Jeff Sink said in the interview room. “You do the math.”

What about half that? If Brea had made 22% of its three-pointers, it would have picked up 12 more points. It lost by 11.

Brea Olinda took 58 shots, 19 more than Laguna Hills.

Marissa Bradley and Jennifer Saari admitted that when the shots continued to rim out, they weren’t just battling Laguna Hills, but themselves, too. It became a psychological battle.

Bradley, a 39.7% three-point shooter, was one for 10 from the field, 0 for five from beyond the arc; Saari (45.9%) was five for 17 from the field (after missing her first 11 shots), one for seven from the arc; Lindsey Davidson (35.45) was 0 for 11 from the field, 0 for eight from behind the arc.

“Normally, those shots are money for us,” Bradley said. “If we make half of them, we’re up by 20. We passed good, we found the open person. They just weren’t falling.”

*

Not only did Laguna Hills’ Mary Tims predict her team’s victory over Brea Olinda in the Southern California final, she also predicted its legacy.

“I think we deserve getting this far,” Tims said after the Hawks’ 60-41 victory over Moorpark, “and if we win, it’s going to be one hell of a victory and no one’s ever going to forget it.”

Especially Brea.

*

The details were sketchy, gleaned from the memory of Brea girls’ Athletic Director Sharen Caperton, who remembered a game in 1982 when the Ladycats had a horrible night. Brea was playing Cerritos Gahr and, because of injuries and foul trouble, was down to three players. And, in her memory, Gahr didn’t let up.

“I used that as a pump-up, but I didn’t have any confirmation,” Sink said after Brea’s 80-40 Division II victory over Gahr last week in the first round of the regionals. “What Caperton told me was outrageous, and I told [the players] the score was 103-29 or something, and I was still embellishing it. I don’t know if it’s true, but it made for good cannon fodder.”

After the game, Stephanie Wettlin said the Ladycats were out for revenge--even after 15 years: “You can’t do that to Brea without getting something back.”

*

The state Division I boys’ and girls’ basketball championships Saturday at the Pond in Anaheim will be broadcast live on Fox Sports West 2.

Jim Watson will be the play-by-play announcer and former Laker Michael Cooper will provide the color commentary.

The Division I boys’ final will begin at 8 p.m. after the Division I girls’ final at 6 p.m.

*

Boys’ basketball Coach Chuck Crawford has done something no one before him at Shasta High, or the Northern Section, for that matter, has been able to do: Advance a team into the state championship game. The Wolves (21-7) take on Compton Dominguez (28-5) at 8 p.m. Friday at the Pond in the Division II final.

The fact that Crawford is a Northern California native makes it that much sweeter, points out Northern Section Commissioner Darold Adamson, who plans to attend the game. Crawford was a point guard at Chester High, which is in a remote town at the south entrance to Lassen National Park, in the early 1970s. Adamson, who later went on to be principal, was Crawford’s basketball coach. Crawford was also the quarterback for the football team, which was also coached by Adamson.

*

Sophomore right-hander Todd Gelatka etched his name into the Trabuco Hills record books by pitching the first no-hitter in the school’s 12-year history last Saturday.

In a 5-0 victory over Orange in the Newport Elks tournament, Gelatka struck out seven and walked one, throwing 88 pitches in seven innings. He needed only one great defensive play; center fielder Billy Ortiz made a diving catch with one out in the fourth inning.

“I knew [of the no-hitter] the whole time,” Gelatka said. “I didn’t feel any pressure until the last out. I had both the curve and fastball going; I was able to spot them where I wanted them.”

And how did Gelatka, 6 feet 1, 170 pounds, and his teammates celebrate the school’s first no-hitter?

“We cleaned up the field, talked about the game and then went home,” Gelatka said.

Gelatka didn’t even keep the ball from the game, but Coach Randy Brouwer said he would give it to Gelatka at the team banquet after the season.

*

There was more going on at the Pond than basketball games Saturday. It was also, in a sense, a dress rehearsal for the staff, headed by Orange Athletic Director Dave Zirkle, that will be organizing the 10 state championship games Friday and Saturday.

“Are we ready to host it? Yes,” Zirkle said. “We spent the regionals learning how to escort the teams on the court, taking care of any last-second problems for television, making sure the tickets were taken care of, and any other hospitality needs. Some things were done well and some mistakes were made.

“At least the Southern Section people were comfortable with how we did things. Before the Northern teams get here, we know what we can do and what we need to work on.”

*

Crenshaw boys’ basketball Coach Willie West, whose team will be seeking the school’s eighth state title on Saturday, said after last Saturday’s 71-66 victory over Mater Dei in the regional final: “I’m very confident about next week. This was the hurdle. . . . I feel great, now. Bring on the Lakers.”

*

Unidentified Laguna Hills basketball player entering the locker room after the Hawks’ victory over Brea: “Gosh, what a day!”

Times staff writers Paul McLeod and Mike Terry contributed to this report.