BOUNCING INTO THE LEAD

And how was your winter?

It’s a question Brea Olinda’s athletes and coaches can ask this spring with a coy smile. If they didn’t already have a good idea, here it is: No school had a finer performance over the past 3 1/2 months than the inhabitants of 789 Wildcat Way.

The school on the hill with the wonderful facilities and the dynastic girls’ basketball team made its move as expected during the winter season. It capitalized on another Southern Section championship performance from the Ladycats--and got strong efforts from the wrestling and boys’ basketball programs--and took over the small-school lead in the race for The Times’ Orange County All-Sports Award.

Brea scored 132.2 points in five winter sports. Not only did Brea jump from fourth to first among small schools, but it also turned a 30-point deficit to Servite/Rosary into a lead of more than 25 points. The 56-point swing was helped along by four first- and one second-place finishes in the Orange League, and three teams that finished fourth or better in the section playoffs.

The 132.2 points Brea scored is the second-highest winter output by a school in the four years The Times has sponsored this competition; Mater Dei scored 144.8 during the 1993-94 season.

More impressive than that is Brea’s 245.9 points after the fall and winter sports seasons is the highest total after two report cards in either division. Brea’s total surpassed Mater Dei, which scored 245.2 through the fall and winter of the 1994-95 school year.

“Some of the other teams have come through,” said Sharen Caperton, Brea’s girls’ athletic director and softball coach. “We have dedicated coaches and athletes, and an administration that backs us, and our kids are fantastic. They’re not afraid to make that commitment. That really helps. We don’t have any whiners.

“Kids see other programs being successful, and they want to be successful too. Success breeds success.”

Three schools are within 25 points of each other for second place, and they are certainly close enough to overtake Brea this spring. But for the moment, Brea can enjoy one of the best performances in the short history of the All-Sports Award, which is given annually to the most proficient large (over 1,300 sophomore, junior and senior students) and small schools in Orange County.

The scoring counts boys’ and girls’ sports equally--football the same as golf. The award is designed to reward balanced athletic programs rather than those that tend to dominate just a few.

The winning schools from both divisions receive a banner to hang in the gym, a trophy for the school and a traveling trophy.

Brea Olinda, like large-school leader Santa Margarita, is trying to become the award’s first repeat winner, and it is trying to do so in consecutive years.

Last year, Brea Olinda (390.3 points) outpointed Laguna Hills (345.7) and El Dorado (326.4).

This year, Laguna Hills and El Dorado are in with the large schools (and are among the top five).

Brea Olinda has 245.9 points after two-thirds of the school year, followed by Servite/Rosary (220.7), El Modena (199.7) and Newport Harbor (198.6).

Brea scored 132.2 points in the five winter sports--boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ soccer and wrestling.

Brea won last year’s award in large part because it was the only school in the county that scored at least 10 points in each sport it fielded, averaging 20.5 points per sport; thus far, Brea has scored at least 13 points in each sport except football, in which it scored 4. The school’s average per-sport total this year is 22.4, a figure that will surely provide another Times banner if the Wildcats can maintain it.

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Santa Margarita, last year’s large-school champion, led the large schools division after the fall season and has remained there. Like Brea, it is poised to repeat as champion. The Eagles have 242.8 points, followed by Esperanza (210.4), Mater Dei (197.3), El Dorado (185.9) and Laguna Hills (174.8).

Santa Margarita’s 39.6-point lead after the fall dropped to 32.4 over second-place Esperanza. Mater Dei, eighth after the fall scoring period, jumped into third place by scoring 101.4 points.

Whereas Brea scored 132.2 points in the winter, Mater Dei scored 101.4 and Santa Margarita had 81.8.

But twice as many points are available in the spring. The 10 spring sports are baseball, softball, golf, badminton, boys’ and girls’ swimming, boys’ tennis, boys’ and girls’ track and field and boys’ volleyball. Especially notable is that Brea doesn’t field a badminton or a boys’ volleyball team. Two years ago, that cost the Wildcats the title. Newport Harbor, which trails Brea by 47.3 points, is the only school among the top four that has a badminton team.

“To win back-to-back, I think that would show that our athletic program is top notch in the county among small schools,” said Caperton, in her 20th year as athletic director. “It’s not just one sport, it’s all of them. Next year, we’ll have girls’ water polo and boys’ volleyball.”

Here’s a look at how Brea Olinda did this winter to take the small-school lead and position itself for another All-Sports title (40 points possible):

* Carryover: Brea scored 113.7 points in the fall season, including 28 from girls’ tennis, 25.4 from water polo, 23 from boys’ cross-country, and 20 from girls’ cross-country. The previous leader, Servite/Rosary, scored 144.5.

* Girls’ basketball: Before the state playoff tournament (which does not count toward scoring), the Ladycats were 27-3, a .900 winning percentage, which translates to 9.0 points; they received 10 points for winning the Orange League title, and 20 performance points for winning the Southern Section title. Total: 39.0

* Boys’ basketball: Brea went 26-4 (8.7 points), won the Orange League (10 points) and got 12 points for its surprising journey to the section semifinals. Total: 30.7.

* Girls’ soccer: A 21-5 season was worth 8.1 points, a league title was worth 10. Failing to reach at least the quarterfinals, Brea received no playoff performance points. Total: 18.1.

* Boys’ soccer: The Wildcats were 15-5-1 (7.4 points) and won the league title (10) but got no performance points. Total: 17.4.

* Wrestling: Brea went 4-1 in league dual meets (8.0 points), took second in league (7.0) and finished a surprising third in the section finals (12.0). Total: 27.

“I think the juniors and seniors really understand the value of this,” Caperton said. “The coaches and the community sure know what it’s all about--well-rounded boys’ and girls’ athletic programs.”

By no means does Brea have the All-Sports Award wrapped up. Although its golf and boys’ track and field teams are ranked among the top 10, and several players are again on a softball team that reached last year’s section semifinals, the competition could be hard-charging.

Servite/Rosary has a golf team ranked second in Orange County, a baseball team ranked fifth and a softball team ranked No. 1 in Division IV. El Modena has boys’ and girls’ track teams ranked among the top five. Newport Harbor has top 10 boys’ volleyball and girls’ track teams--and also fields a badminton program.

It’s still anybody’s ball game.

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If there’s a school that looks like a sure winner, it’s Santa Margarita. Although Mater Dei, which won the award in 1995, may have the greater reputation in the higher-profile sports, the Eagles are developing their own winning tradition in some of the lower-profile ones among parochial schools.

Santa Margarita’s best performance of the winter came from the girls’ basketball team, which scored 22.1 points--the school’s only team to score at least 20. But the Eagles should fare better in the spring. They have the top-ranked golf team in Orange County; boys’ tennis, girls’ track and field and boys’ volleyball teams ranked among the top three; and the boys’ and girls’ swimming, boys’ track, baseball and softball teams ranked among the top 10.

“It would mean a lot to win again,” said Tim O’Hara, the golf coach and football team’s offensive coordinator. “[Athletic Director Rich Schaaf] seems to downplay some of these things, but as one of the coaches of football and golf, I think it brings a lot of notoriety to the school.

“We always try to get out of the shadow of Mater Dei, and [this performance] says a lot about our staff and the kids.”

Unlike last year, when it trailed Mater Dei by 7.2 points going into the spring season, Santa Margarita finds itself trying to hold off Esperanza, Mater Dei, El Dorado and Laguna Hills. Esperanza and El Dorado still haven’t won an All-Sports award, though Esperanza missed by only 1.6 points in 1993-94.

The school with the best chance of catching--or at least undermining--Santa Margarita might be sixth-place Woodbridge.

Like Santa Margarita, the Warriors (173.5 points) are in the Sea View League, which means they could take points away from Santa Margarita for league finish.

Also, Woodbridge has the county’s top-ranked boys’ tennis and girls’ track and field teams, and one of the best softball teams in the Southern Section. They also have a top-10 boys’ track team, and a boys’ volleyball team on the cusp of the top 10.

The only question is, can Woodbridge’s nine teams make up a 70-point deficit?

The Warriors--and the schools ahead of them--need only look to Brea for the answer.

But it will take a fine effort.

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Large School Top 20

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School Fall BB GB BS GS W Total Santa Margarita 160.9 14 22 12 19 15 243 Esperanza 121.3 12 26 24 14 13 210 Mater Dei 95.9 39 29 19 14 0 197 El Dorado 99.3 10 21 26 11 18 186 Laguna Hills 76.5 4 39 18 17 20 175 Los Alamitos 103.6 19 7 3 38 2 172 Woodbridge 75.3 39 26 14 11 2 173 Foothill 117.0 2 18 3 13 2 155 Villa Park 80.6 34 12 4 10 4 145 Fountain Valley 69.6 3 7 38 3 20 141 Dana Hills 108.9 9 1 4 6 1 140 Aliso Niguel 85.3 13 6 5 12 15 136 San Clemente 62 10 20 14 1 28 134 Cypress 62.6 25 11 15 18 0 131 Sunny Hills 95.2 4 1 16 16 2 129 Santa Ana 66.6 1 1 27 5 36 128 Irvine 89.3 1 4 4 5 24 128 El Toro 81.4 10 10 6 11 4 122 Capistrano Valley 102.5 15 0 0 0 0 118 Santiago 56 3 10 14 0 32 115

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KEY: BB--Boys’ basketball, GB--Girls’ basketball, BS--Boys’ soccer, GS--Girls’ soccer, W--Wrestling.

Values are rounded to nearest 10th. Rounding might create slight discrepancies between sum of individual figures listed and total.

Small School Top 20

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School Fall BB GB BS GS W Total Brea Olinda 113.7 31 17 17 18 27 224 Servite/Rosary 144.5 17 22 21 16 0 221 El Modena 108.4 5 11 15 33 28 200 Newport Harbor 123.0 11 19 17 3 26 199 Valencia 102.5 14 12 10 15 4 157 Pacifica 96.8 13 18 0 17 12 156 Tustin 100.1 19 5 1 3 10 152 Orange Lutheran 116.0 3 2 18 4 8 152 Brethren Christian 69.6 20 27 0 12 23 151 Laguna Beach 96.1 16 3 18 5 0 139 Calvary Chapel 40.5 34 20 0 0 40 134 Troy 57.7 13 18 9 11 19 128 Capistrano Valley Chr. 60.1 17 34 0 3 0 115 Corona del Mar 100.4 2 1 5 4 0 112 Garden Grove 69.6 7 7 0 13 15 111 Sonora 48.0 31 13 4 5 8 108 La Habra 76.8 3 11 0 12 5 107 Estancia 40.0 25 11 15 3 8 101 Ocean View 41.0 14 26 4 10 3 98 Costa Mesa 66.9 2 13 1 2 0 85

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KEY: BB--Boys’ basketball, GB--Girls’ basketball, BS--Boys’ soccer, GS--Girls’ soccer, W--Wrestling.

Values are rounded to nearest 10th. Rounding might create slight discrepancies between sum of individual figures listed and total.