When Lembke Is In, Ocean View Has a Pretty Good Shot

One would think Anna Lembke would have been a diminished player, if not physically, then statistically.

But despite defections in the Ocean View girls’ basketball program that left the team a shell of its former self, and injuries that hurt even more, Lembke remains one of the county’s dominant players.

She continues to have the numbers to prove it despite being double- and triple-teamed nearly every game.

“For any team that plays us,” said Seahawk Coach Bill Seibert, “really, there’s only one person you need to stop.”

Yet opponents don’t. Or can’t. Lembke is averaging 21.4 points and 12.2 rebounds. Her shooting percentage is the county’s best, 66.5%, and she is shooting 76.8% from the free-throw line.

Those statistics are better--or within a percentage point--than those she posted as a junior, when she had The Times Orange County player of the year, guard Jennifer Tuiolosega, to keep opponents from draping around her 6-foot-2 3/4 frame.

Still, Lembke, a model of consistency, has not had the type of season she expected after her junior season ended.

Ocean View was coming off a quarterfinal upset in the Southern Section playoffs after being seeded second in its division. It had three returning starters and three consecutive Golden West League basketball titles coming into the 1997-98 season. A four-peat is unlikely, and a Division III-A quarterfinal appearance is a longshot. The Seahawks (9-11, 2-3 in league) are in fourth place.

“I still think my senior year is great,” said Lembke, who will attend Pepperdine in the fall. “You don’t necessarily have to win all your games and win the league to have a great year. Winning isn’t everything. It’s what you do in the process.

“I’m still having a lot of fun enjoying the team and working with a great bunch of girls.”

But, she adds, “I miss not winning all the time.”

Unlike Laguna Hills, where four seniors graduated off a state championship team, the plight of the Seahawks is much different.

Jasmine Liebel, a 6-0 junior center who was a potential starter, has missed the season because she tore her anterior cruciate ligament. Heather Hill, a guard, isn’t the same player she was before she shattered her collarbone in August.

But the departure of two starters, first-team all-league point guard Tracy Lindquist and second-team forward Sharon Shelton--both juniors this year--had the most devastating effect. They decided to concentrate solely on volleyball, and the Seahawks won the Division III state and section titles.

“In the beginning, I felt a little abandoned because I looked at the situation I was in,” Lembke said. “But Tracy and Sharon wanted to focus on their volleyball to get scholarships for themselves, just like me--which I can completely understand. I’m not mad at them.”

But it thrust everyone on the team into unfamiliar positions. Lembke must shoulder the load offensively and defensively, and her teammates had to step into starting roles instead of coming off the bench.

“Bringing the ball up the court,” Lembke confessed, “was a little more than I expected.”

It didn’t help that Ocean View’s schedule remained as tough as it was last year. Showing some resiliency, only four teams have scored 50 or more against the Seahawks.

“It’s hard for her--there’s so much pressure put on one person to do all the scoring,” Seibert said of Lembke. “It gets frustrating because every shot counts for her. She knows she needs to score and rebound for us to be successful, and if she misses a shot, we could lose a game.”

The scoring drops off from Lembke’s 21.4 points to the next highest-scorer on the team--Hill at 6.3.

“[Lembke’s] a good athlete, rebounds well, can run the floor and shoot the 15-footer,” Pepperdine Coach Mark Trakh said. “She has to be really physical and intense on [the collegiate] level--that’s what I’d like to see. There’s a lot of knocking around and you’re not posting up 5-8 kids here. It’s a little different.”

Lembke has averaged only 1 1/2 more shots per game than she did last season, but her scoring average is up nearly six points because her free-throw shooting has become such a valuable asset. She’s making teams pay for their many fouls.

“She’s always telling the girls, if they make a mistake, don’t worry about it,” Seibert said. “They know when Anna is out there, they have a pretty good shot [at winning]. That’s the aura she carries. She’s a team player, and they feel comfortable with her. They know they have to get her the ball for us to be successful.”

But Lembke is uncomfortable shooting too often. She is averaging only 11.7 shots per game. The county’s leading scorer, El Toro’s Giuliana Mendiola (22.7), is averaging 16.8.

“I would rather have it more a team effort where everybody gets to score and everybody gets to feel they contributed,” Lembke said. “That’s why, when I score 30, I wish other people could get in on those points.

“Coach Seibert wants me to shoot more often. He tells me to keep looking to score for myself. . . . He wants me to shoot threes.”

Lembke, who will be a power forward at Pepperdine, draws the line at about 15 feet. But, strangely enough, Ocean View’s shortcomings made Lembke better. Not all her points are under the basket as they were in the past. She has actually run the point this season, has moved to the perimeter so she can get the ball more often and has gotten comfortable driving the lane.

“She has to carry her team on her shoulders, which is a good experience for her, and she has to score, which is also a good experience,” Trakh said. “She has [had] to work against a double-team every night, and has [had] to work on all her skills. I think she’s making the best of the situation over there.”