ROLE CALL

The last time she played for Brea Olinda High against Pleasanton Amador Valley in the state championship basketball game, Jackie Lord played a supporting role in a lineup that included three seniors.

Brea Olinda won, 54-51.

For the rematch on Friday in the state Division II title game at Arco Arena in Sacramento, Lord will share center stage with Chelsea Trotter, who is among the top players in the state but missed last year’s game because of injury.

A shooting guard since the fifth grade, Lord was moved to point guard for this season, and her team’s fortunes have mirrored her development.

“It’s not an easy transition,” Lord said. “It’s difficult. It’s difficult physically.”

Yet her performance has been solid against an impressive succession of opponents. She averages 13.4 points and 3.3 assists while playing in Trotter’s formidable shadow.

Lord has only 57 turnovers in 34 games. “I don’t think she gets enough credit for that,” Brea Coach Jeff Sink said.

Sink knows that if Brea is to succeed against Amador Valley, strong play from his 5-foot-8 junior floor leader is crucial. Lord knows it too.

“I have to be cool-headed, handle the pressure, make good plays, make big baskets when we need them and play great defense,” Lord said. “They’ll be excited, nervous, going at full speed. Being the cool-headed point guard is especially important. Being calm, so that everyone knows that everything is going to be OK and we’ll stick it out together.”

Sticking it out has been Brea’s trademark. The Ladycats are 28-6, the most losses they’ve had since 1981 when the team was 12-9.

Early on, opponents successfully pressured guards Lord and Tara Hefferly, who were perceived to be weak links. Brea lost five of six in one stretch, including four in a row for the first time in more than two decades.

Lord was getting an earful from everyone she knew, and it got inside her head; she wasn’t playing instinctively.

“In the beginning, I was thinking a lot, listening to a lot of people’s advice and suggestions,” she said. “I took it all in, swished it around and came out with nothing. I was just more confused.”

Things started to change for the better, she said, when she stopped thinking about how to play and just played.

When she did, she discovered she was reacting more like a point guard.

“I felt that the position had become a part of me,” Lord said. “I wanted to go to state so bad, and I put all my thoughts aside, and just played my game.”

As her game got better, Brea reeled off 17 consecutive victories, including wins over strong teams like Hanford and El Toro.

Redondo Union defeated Brea for the Southern Section Division II-AA championship, but a week later in the regional final, the Ladycats avenged that loss, 52-44, with Lord playing a key role.

She scored six of her eight points in the final 4 1/2 minutes and she ran precious time off the clock in the final 25 seconds before Redondo defenders could foul her. Then she made two clutch free throws.

She has come a long way.

“I’m impressed with her shooting range and she can take the ball pretty well to the basket,” said Laguna Hills Coach Jim Martin, whose team lost a first-round regional playoff game to Brea. “If you go running out on her, she can go right past you. I also thought she was pretty hard-nosed, a tenacious defender.

“In the game against us, she hit a three-pointer down the stretch that must have been 24 feet away--an absolute bomb.”

Added Sink: “Jackie’s cut from the mold of earlier Brea kids--hyper-competitive, really intense, her own worst critic of her game, and tries to come back every single week working on a new trick or part of her game. In the last couple of weeks, we asked her to start driving more, and now she’s penetrating quite a bit. That’s the type of player she is, and you’ll see dramatic improvement between this year and next year.”

Next year, the plan is to have Lord go back to shooting guard. Freshman Jennifer Katsuyama, a reserve this season, is expected to take over at point guard.

“Given our injuries and the tough schedule, everyone has to set aside part of their game for the good of all, and I think next year will be Jackie’s time to shine,” Sink said. “But we wouldn’t have been successful this season without her being willing to run the point position and still stay within the offensive flow and score for us, which she has.”

Lord is shooting 46.6%, including 44.1% from three-point range, and has made 76.3% of her free throws. Her 82 steals are second to Hefferly’s 105, and her 13.2 scoring average is second to Trotter’s 20.7.

“It’s been tough with all the losses--we’re not used to that--but it feels good to know what we’ve gone through and can still stick it out and go to state,” Lord said. “That was our whole goal, to win state, and at least we’re there.”