Norco’s Arriaran Turns Up Volume

James Anderson, the Harbor City Narbonne coach, was an instructor at a camp over the summer. When it was over, the camp’s 13 coaches held a secret ballot to choose -- just for themselves -- the best player.

“It was unanimous,” Anderson said. “Erika Arriaran.”

Arriaran (pronounced uh-REE-uh-ron) is a 5-foot-10 junior guard for Norco and one of the most highly recruited players in the country.

But she didn’t play for Norco last school year. She was home-schooled, which allowed her to get ahead in her studies “so I could concentrate more on college [recruiting] my senior year and not have to worry about grades, SATs and that kind of stuff.”

The year off also allowed her to develop her game in a men’s basketball league in Los Angeles. She said it has made her tougher. But the biggest difference between now and then?

“Confidence in myself and my leadership role,” Arriaran said. “Everything I thought my freshman year I never said. But now, on the court, I say everything that I feel. I’m taking the spot as a leader.

“I should have talked my freshman year, but I was too embarrassed, too shy, and worried about what everyone thought. I wanted everyone to like me, wanted to be accepted at school. I was pretty much intimidated.”

All of which is hard to believe. She averaged about 16 points as a freshman and had created quite a buzz in girls’ basketball circles even before she reached high school.

“She’s better than she would have been had she played with us, and all the rest of the players are better because they had to carry the load last year without her,” said Norco Coach Rick Thompson, whose team went 18-9 last season and has all its starters back, including sophomore guard Deanna Moreno and junior guard Priscilla Angeloni, as well as reserve senior guard Brittany Saxton, who may be Norco’s second-best player.

Through four games -- three against teams known for their defense -- Arriaran has averaged 14.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and three steals.

The 16th-ranked Cougars (3-1) play tonight in the first round of their own tournament against Riverside King.

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Many of the Southland’s top teams are competing in the Phoenix area beginning Thursday at the Nike Tournament of Champions. Narbonne and Long Beach Poly are the only local schools in the spotlight National Division, in which nine of the 16 teams are nationally ranked.

In a different grouping, Los Angeles Marlborough has a chance to show just how good it is with point guard Emily Tay and center Abi Olajuwon (6-2). It is in with No. 6 Brea Olinda, No. 15 Santa Ana Mater Dei and two schools that were ranked in the preseason top 25, Huntington Beach Edison and Sylmar.

Edison (3-2) will also be interesting to watch. The Chargers were ranked No. 19 in the preseason but fell out after a 60-47 loss to Placentia El Dorado. They have been without their best player, injured junior Rebecca Kepilino. The 5-11 guard/forward is expected to return when the tournament begins on Thursday.

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Closer to home, No. 19 Inglewood Morningside will be the team to watch at the Artesia tournament. The Monarchs (4-0) are getting their first test since Lorie Rayford (5-11) transferred from Narbonne. With Natasha Thomas (6-3) and Twila Stokes (5-11), Morningside has a front line that can match up with No. 10 La Puente Bishop Amat and its dominant duo, Chasmine Jones (5-11) and Texas Tech-bound Erin Myrick (6-2). If all goes as expected, they should meet in the semifinals on Monday.

Quarterfinal games on Saturday should pit No. 22 Etiwanda vs. Morningside and No. 11 Torrance Bishop Montgomery vs. No. 13 Long Beach Wilson, both at 7 p.m., and No. 8 Fullerton Rosary vs. No. 18 Pasadena Muir at 8:30 p.m.

Ventura should reach the Saturday championship game of its tournament, which begins today. The Cougars probably would play against the winner of Friday’s 7:30 p.m. game, which should be No. 24 Buena (3-2) and No. 21 North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake (6-0)....

The Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions runs Friday through Tuesday. Fifth-ranked Fullerton Troy, No. 7 Santa Margarita and No. 23 Palmdale are participating.... Ventura point guard Caitlin O’Neill was most valuable player of the Ventura Buena tournament, but Kali Bennett, a 6-4 freshman, displayed the inside game that could make the Cougars (7-0) difficult to beat....

Despite the solid play from O’Neill and Bennett, the key performance of the tournament may have come from Kaytlin O’Dell, who held Newhall Hart star Ashlee Trebilcock to 15 points in a 57-53 victory. Coach Ann Larson called it the best game of O’Dell’s career. “We’re playing very well,” Larson said, “but I worry that we’re playing too good too early. Nobody wants to peak in December.”