Junior Class

Chelsea Trotter arrived at Brea Olinda as a freshman shouldering great expectations.

She was going to be the next great player. She was going to do this, she was going to do that.

She got hurt and missed the season.

But her time was coming.

She helped Brea win a state championship as a sophomore, and two weeks ago, its 11th consecutive Southern Section title.

Trotter, a junior, made Brea an overwhelming favorite to win a second consecutive state title. That is, until she tore her anterior cruciate ligament in a Southern California semifinal. She missed both games since the injury, including Brea’s 54-51 victory Friday in the state championship game against Pleasanton Amador Valley.

Maybe Trotter is star-crossed. She has played three high school seasons and has blown out both knees with identical injuries.

But when Trotter is healthy, she delivers the goods in a fashion befitting The Times Orange County’s player of the year.

A 6-foot-3 forward, she is being recruited by the best college basketball programs in the country.

She has grown into a big-game player, her best performances coming when she must rise to a challenge.

* Trotter scored 32 points with 15 rebounds against one of the best teams in the country, Harbor City Narbonne, in an 83-80 overtime victory. She scored 15 of Brea’s final 20 points against the No. 1 team in the state. Brea was ranked No. 3. Both teams were defending state champions.

* She scored 31, with 18 rebounds, in a 72-67 victory over El Toro, the second-ranked team in Orange County. Her two free throws tied the score at 67-67.

* She scored 22 with 20 rebounds against San Clemente, which opened the season ranked No. 2 in the county and finished in the Division I-A final.

There’s plenty more. Brea won its section title in Division II-AA, but the Ladycats played the four seeded teams in the section’s largest division, I-AA. Trotter averaged 23.3 points, 15.8 rebounds in those games.

In the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, against a field of some of the most respected programs in the country, she averaged 16.3 points, 6.8 rebounds.

In five section and state playoff games, she averaged 15.8 points, 8.8 rebounds in blowouts.

Against a tough schedule, Brea finished with a 32-3 record.

Trotter finished with an average of 19.6 points, 10.8 rebounds.

She led the county in field-goal percentage, 65.3%.

She is not just an imposing physical presence, she is also an imposing athlete. She drop steps from the free-throw line and is as quick as most guards.

“She’s a very creative player--you don’t know what she’s going to do next, so it’s very hard to guard her,” said teammate Lindsey Davidson who, like Trotter, is a two-time all-county selection. “I don’t want to say she’s more of a guard because she likes to drive, but she brings that different type of game as a post. I think she prefers facing the basket so she can make a move.

“That’s her game. That’s why it’s so hard to stop her. You put somebody small on her to match her quickness, she can post up; if you put someone big on her, you can put her on the wing and let her drive and create for herself.”

And create problems for the defense, as most have found out.

Trotter wants the ball. She wants it with the game on the line. There was a moment in the Narbonne game that may ultimately define Trotter as she goes into her senior season with a newly repaired knee.

With Narbonne trailing by two points and 1:19 left in overtime, Trotter stole the ball. On the other end, inside a minute left, her back to the basket, the shot clock ticking down, Trotter made a fall-away jumper from about eight feet, a defender rendered helpless by the move.

It was the winning basket. And for the first time in five years, Brea seemed to have a sure thing.

Not since Nicole Erickson in 1994 has Brea had a player who could be counted on so heavily in the clutch.

A player who could will the ball into the basket.

A player who, with the game on the line, was unstoppable.