Transfer Gave Guerrero Whole New State of Mind

The look on Marcene Guerrero’s face in the waning moments of the Southern Section Division IV-A girls’ basketball final last Saturday showed an odd mix of focused intensity and sheer panic.

The mere prospect of winning the title that had eluded the Calvary Chapel High senior in each of the last two seasons gave her the extra drive.

But watching her team’s 10-point fourth quarter lead dwindle to one with 56 seconds left elicited some bad memories.

Santa Monica Crossroads eventually failed to convert a game-winning shot opportunity with 1.7 seconds left Saturday, and the normally stoic, resolute point guard turned all smiles.

“I was like ‘Finally!’ ” she said.

Her thoughts quickly turned to the next challenge: a state championship, which the Eagles will try to win today when they play Atherton Sacred Heart Prep at 9:15 a.m. in the Division IV final at the Arco Arena in Sacramento.

But even if the Eagles don’t succeed, Guerrero, who averages 10.2 points and 4.6 assists, can at least say she finally got a section title.

“I can’t tell you how much it means to me,” she said. “It’s the best feeling. I’m speechless. I can’t believe I got it.”

An understandable reaction.

A standout point guard at Cerritos Valley Christian the previous two seasons, Guerrero transferred to Calvary Chapel at the beginning of this year after just missing section titles with the Crusaders.

In the 1998 title game, Brethren Christian went on a shooting tear in overtime to defeat Valley Christian, 44-37.

In 1997, JaclynJohnson of Burbank Bellermine-Jefferson made a buzzer-beating basket to beat the Crusaders, 47-45, for the title.

From a basketball standpoint, the decision to leave was difficult.

Valley Christian has made 16 appearances in section title games in the last 26 years, including the last eight, and has won nine of them.

When Guerrero left for Calvary Chapel, which had made only one appearance in a title game and lost, she thought she was leaving her section title hopes behind.

“I didn’t think I would ever get it,” she said. “I didn’t know any of the players here except Cathy Joens. I knew she was good but that was it.”

Guerrero quickly learned the Eagles had potential, and Coach Russ McClurg knew that Guerrero was a big reason why.

“She’s such an intense player that it rubs off on the other girls,” McClurg said. “They see that and they want to play that hard too.”

The intensity and desire to win made for an instant bond between McClurg and Guerrero and the point guard eased in to the new system.

The team came together instantly, McClurg said, thanks to Guerrero’s running of the offense.

“When she first got here I told her, ‘You haven’t won one and I haven’t won one, so let’s win one together,’ ” McClurg said. “And she took that to heart. She’s an intense player and I’m an intense coach, so she’s like an extension of me out there.”

Guerrero is the classic point guard. She makes the pass off the dribble, drives to the basket if the path is clear and gets to the free-throw line.

She can take over a game if the opponents let her, like she did in the first half of a 66-52 victory over Morro Bay in a Southern California playoff game last week. She had 12 of her 14 points and five of her six assists before intermission as the Eagles took a 17-point lead.

“She’s amazing,” McClurg said. “She knows when to turn it on and turn it off. And the best thing is, she’ll make mistakes but she will learn from them.”

She learned while coming so close to winning section titles.

“I had been there before so I could see when the other players were getting nervous,” she said. “I tried to get them away from that--either vocally or by hustling more. I remember the first time I was there, I needed someone to help me out.”

So today, Guerrero will play for a state championship. She admits feeling a little nervous and said she will be even more so when the team steps onto the floor of Arco Area.

“But the only thing that matters,” Guerrero said, “is that I’ll be there.”