Reach For The Sky

Diana Taurasi is accustomed to nagging basketball injuries, but since it was still November, there was no sense taking a risk.

So the 5-foot-10 senior guard from Chino Don Lugo High retired early one day from practice and went to the trainer’s room for some much-needed ice on her oft-injured left ankle.

Thirty minutes later, when practice ended, concerned teammates filled the small room.

And then the slow chant began.

Hoom-da-da, hoom-da-da, hoom-da-da, hoom.

The words were directed at Taurasi’s ailing ankle as the girls gathered around and waved their hands in small circles as if attempting to coax the pain from within.

“That’s just a little bit of the team spirit we have,” Taurasi said smiling as her teammates laughed themselves silly.

All joking aside, everyone in that room understood what life would be like without a sound Taurasi--regarded by many as the top high school girls’ basketball player in the United States.

There would be no national attention, no invitations to prestigious tournaments, no gyms filled to the rafters and little talk of Southern Section playoff success.

Taurasi, in three-plus seasons, has almost single-handedly put Don Lugo on the girls’ basketball map, forcing schools such as Brea Olinda and Harbor City Narbonne to share a bit of the spotlight.

Taurasi began the season with 2,366 points--an average of 28.9 a game--and ranked 10th on the Southern Section’s all-time list. But her 52-point performance Monday in a season-opening 81-76 overtime victory over Moreno Valley vaulted her into seventh place, just ahead of La Crescenta Crescenta Valley graduate Michelle Greco, now at UCLA. And her nine points Wednesday in an 81-27 victory over Victor Valley moved her into sixth, ahead of Michelle McCoy of Cerritos Gahr (1979-82).

Taurasi won’t catch Cheryl Miller, who scored a state-record 3,446 points at Riverside Poly from 1979-82 then went on to USC and Olympic glory and is regarded as one of the best female players ever.

But plenty of knowledgeable observers regard Taurasi as comparable at this stage of her career.

Steve Kavaloski, founder of the Southern California Women’s Basketball Club in 1979, coached both Miller and Taurasi.

“They are different players,” Kavaloski said. “Cheryl is the best player I’ve ever coached. Diana is second.

“Cheryl could play every position whether it was point guard or center. Diana has been mostly a guard, but she is like a chess player, always two or three moves ahead of everyone else.”

Taurasi ranked first on most top college programs’ recruiting lists this fall. She signed with Connecticut on Nov. 15 after visiting the campus earlier that month and after Coach Geno Auriemma made three home visits to Taurasi.

“That was cool,” said Taurasi, who chose Connecticut over UCLA and Arizona. “I enjoyed it because you get to know the coaches and what they’re about. Three months ago I was 99% sure I wasn’t leaving California. But I want a challenge for myself. It’s just another adventure.”

Taurasi’s high school career might have taken a different route had she not followed her heart. Taurasi, who lives across the street from Don Lugo High, acknowledges that she once considered leaving her neighborhood school and transferring to higher-profile prep programs.

“I’m not going to lie, I did think about going to Brea or to [Chino Hills] Ayala,” Taurasi said. “But why? Just to be a follower? I was close to doing it only because people kept telling me I should. But I finally said, ‘Why can’t I do something for a school that hasn’t been known for basketball?’ ”

Don Lugo Coach Larry Webster said he was aware the day could arrive when Taurasi might bolt, but he never spoke to her about it.

“I know it got pretty close her freshman year,” Webster said, “and that’s all I’ll say.”

Taurasi stayed and in the process has built one of the most storied high school careers in California history.

“I can’t think of a better girls’ player that I’ve seen,” said La Puente Bishop Amat Coach Richard Wiard, who coached Taurasi in club play. “She doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses in her game. She has great size and she can pass, dribble and shoot. She has the whole package.”

Taurasi knows her reputation precedes her whenever she takes the court. And she plans to make believers.

“You can’t take anything for granted your senior year,” Taurasi said. “You want to go out with a bang. You don’t want to go out just another overrated player from California. That’s the way I look at it.”

So perhaps there was a message in that 52-point opening-night performance Monday. It was the second-highest single-game total for Taurasi, who scored 55 points against Moreno Valley Canyon Springs as a freshman and has reached or surpassed the 50-point mark four times.

But those efforts pale in comparison to what Taurasi did last December.

At the Santa Barbara Tournament before Christmas, Taurasi won consecutive games against Hanford, Ayala, Santa Barbara and El Toro with last-second shots.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Webster said.

Taurasi and Don Lugo closed the month at the Ayala tournament by handing Brea Olinda a rare loss on New Year’s Eve. Taurasi scored 44 points and considers the victory one of her team’s shining moments.

Taurasi would like to experience more of the same this season, especially in the playoffs.

“The points are nice, but if we don’t go pretty far in CIF . . . ,” Taurasi says as her voice trails off briefly.

“I’m not going to say it would go to waste, but it would leave a bitter taste. Like Charles Barkley--you don’t win, you leave unhappy.”

Last season ended on a sour note with Taurasi fouling out of a second-round playoff loss at Ventura.

“I finally hear her saying that [winning a Southern Section title] is one of her goals,” Webster said. “In the past, I’d say it but no one else really would. I think it’s important to verbalize it and not be afraid to say it.”

Although the pressure and expectations have increased, Taurasi’s approach isn’t going to change.

“I’m going to get on the court and just smile and have a good old time,” she says. “That’s the only way I play and that’s the only way I’m going to play.”

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CIF-SS All-Time Scoring Leaders

Cheryl Miller, Riverside Poly, 1979-82 *: 3,446

Lisa Leslie, Inglewood Morningside, 1987-90: 2,896

Maylana Martin, Perris, 1993-96: 2,863

Michelle Palmisano, Thousand Oaks, 1989-92: 2,798

Necie Thompson, Cerritos Gahr, 1977-80: 2,574

Diana Taurasi, Chino Don Lugo, 1996-present **: 2,427

Michelle McCoy, Cerritos Gahr, 1979-82: 2,425

Michelle Greco, La Crescenta Crescenta Valley, 1995-98: 2,397

LeAnne Bennett, Los Angeles Ribet Academy, 1995-98: 2,386

Shelda Arceneaux, Alta Loma, 1980-83: 2,372

* state record

** through Wednesday