Marina’s Emde Dynasty Coming to End

When Chuck Emde’s oldest daughter, Martita, began playing basketball in eighth grade, the Huntington Beach resident said he “didn’t even know of sports for girls.”

Through the years, Emde has become well-acquainted with sports, especially basketball, at Marina High. When this season ends and Emde’s youngest daughter, Miranda, shoots her final jumper, it will bring an end to an 11-year run of Emde girls playing basketball in a Viking uniform.

“What impresses me most is the progress that the girls’ basketball game has made,” Chuck Emde said. “I see the skill level having increased tremendously and, correspondingly, the fan and public interest. That’s been most gratifying to me.”

Martita Emde graduated from Marina in 1994 after playing three years on varsity, attended Stanford on an academic scholarship, and plays Ultimate Frisbee internationally. Marisa graduated in 1997 and played three seasons at Vanguard, but she quit this season after a conflict with her coach. She is going on a missionary trip to Ghana in July.

All three girls were team captains. The older sisters were shooting guards--Miranda plays a lot of point guard--and were valuable contributors in Marina’s considerable success in the 1990s when it won 79% of its games, including the Southern Section Division I-A title game in 1998.

This season hasn’t been quite as successful. Marina is 13-11 overall and is in a three-way tie for second place in the Sunset League.

“I’m trying to savor every game and every moment, knowing that this is the end of the line, at least for high school,” said Chuck, who has been the program’s booster club president the past eight years.

Miranda’s introduction to basketball was watching Martita play on the Marina varsity. Miranda decided over the weekend to continue her basketball career at Cal Baptist. She is averaging nearly 20 points.

“It’s a kind of pressure for me,” Miranda said. “We’ve all had an effect on the program. Not just pressure, but it’s a kind of inner excitement to do better--[I’m] the last one coming through.”

But Miranda says her dad is the one who’s going through withdrawal.

“It’s a big deal to me . . . [but] he’s the one who’s been there every game, every event, every part of our season every year,” she said. “That’s his life, his kids, and he’s been through it every step of the way.”

DOWN AND OUT

When Ollie Martin put together Mater Dei’s schedule this season, his only concern was getting his players ready for the four-team Serra League race. Finish first or second and the Monarchs are in the playoffs.

That won’t happen, and eligible at-large playoff teams must have 11 victories. Mater Dei has six wins with one game to play.

“I knew it was going to be challenging, that it was a matter of time for those young players to develop, mature and make a strong contribution,” Martin said.

Nine seniors, including the top six players, graduated from Mater Dei last year. The Monarchs have been fielding a virtual romper-room starting lineup: sophomores Teeya Fernandez, Ashley Voisinet and Lindsay Gabler, junior Jessica Williams, and either freshman Lauren Greer, junior Raquel Ferrer or junior Michelle Hoffmann.

“They’ll be very good next year and continue to get that much better because we have four freshmen on varsity, as well as quite a few sophomores,” Martin said.

Mater Dei also had some bad luck. Junior wing Tiffany Brooks broke her hand against Calvary Chapel and missed the league games.

“They’ve improved quite a bit,” Martin said. “The future’s real bright.”

But next week isn’t.

NO SMALL PLAYER

She is only 5 feet tall, but Jessalynn Calumpong has carried Kennedy.

“She’s small,” Coach Dave Jankowski said, “but her shoulders have been huge.”

In a 49-47 victory over Cypress, she hit four three-point baskets, including the game-winner at the buzzer. She had six three-pointers, breaking her school record, in a 24-point performance two weeks ago against Loara. In another win over Cypress, she scored seven in a 9-0 run to end the game in a 49-40 victory.

A REAL BUMMER

There’s a good chance Amy Sanders was the most disappointed person in the Brea Olinda gym on Saturday, but she wasn’t the only one. Huntington Beach’s leading scorer and rebounder sat out the Oilers 26-point loss to No. 2 Brea with a sprained right ankle. “I got taped and tried running, but I just couldn’t,” she said. “I had been looking forward to this game for a long time.”

Brea Coach Jeff Sink was disappointed the Oilers weren’t at full strength because he had hoped to get a good read on his Ladycats with one week left before the playoffs.

“Sanders makes a big difference, at least 10 points, probably 15, and it hurts their [substitute] rotation,” Sink said. “We played hard enough to beat just about anyone.”

THE DOW JONZ

Whose stock is up or down this week:

* Stephanie Duda, Los Alamitos. Up. Consistently the Griffins’ top player, she scored 21 in upset of Edison, and 44 in a 66-50 win over Fountain Valley, giving Los Alamitos enough victories to qualify for the playoffs with Esperanza and Huntington Beach still remaining on the schedule.

* Veronica Johns-Richardson, Troy. Up. Since Troy lost its grip on its No. 1 county ranking, Johns-Richardson has averaged 18.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.5 steals and 9.1 assists in nine games, including wins over Sonora (twice), La Jolla The Bishop’s, Chino Hills Ayala and Torrance Bishop Montgomery. She didn’t play either game against Buena Park.

LOOKING AHEAD

Santa Ana Valley has never won a league title but can clinch a share of the Century League’s with a victory tonight at Villa Park. Los Amigos can forge a first-place tie at home against six-time defending Garden Grove League champion Pacifica. The same holds true for Cerritos Valley Christian, which must win at Calvary Chapel, and Rosary, which plays at Santa Margarita.

University, Estancia and Corona del Mar share first place in the Pacific Coast League. Corona del Mar plays at University tonight, and Estancia plays at University on Thursday.

Woodbridge beat Irvine in the last game of the season a year ago to gain a share of the Sea View League title, and Irvine will be trying to do the same thing this season when the Vaqueros host Woodbridge on Thursday.

If you have an item or idea for the girls’ basketball report, you can fax us at (714)966-5663 or e-mail us at martin.henderson@latimes.com

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GIRLS’ BASKETBALL TOP 10

Orange County Sportswriters’ Poll

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Pos. School League Rec 1. Esperanza Sunset 21-4 2. Brea Olinda Orange 19-4 3. San Clemente South Coast 21-3 4. Troy Freeway 21-4 5. Woodbridge Sea View 24-0 6. Irvine Sea View 19-5 7. Huntington Beach Sunset 13-11 8. Rosary Serra 20-6 9. Santa Margarita Serra 18-7 10. Westminster Golden West 19-5

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