Pickron Comes Back Strong From Injury

Leslie Pickron, a fifth-year senior at Riverside Rubidoux High, is making up for lost time.

After a school bus accident deprived her of 2 1/2 seasons with the girls’ varsity basketball team, Pickron was granted an extra semester of athletic eligibility by the Southern Section and is helping the Falcons to their best record in 11 years.

Although she still suffers from two herniated disks in her neck, Pickron is leading the team in scoring for the second consecutive season, averaging 15.2 points.

She has made 49 of 94 three-point shots, which has helped stretch opposing defenses and opened up better scoring opportunities for her teammates.

“We’re winning as a whole,” Pickron said. “We play off of each other. We couldn’t win with just one of us scoring all the points.”

Tonight, Rubidoux (18-4, 8-0) plays host to Riverside King (13-12, 6-2) for a chance to clinch the Sunkist League championship.

In the winter of 1998, Pickron was the only freshman on the Rubidoux varsity team. She remembers talking cheerfully with a teammate seated beside her on a ride home from a holiday tournament. Suddenly, a big rig slammed into the rear of the full-length bus as it slowed for traffic on the Riverside Freeway. The impact tossed Pickron and others to the floor.

She remembers hearing her teammates crying and seeing blood caused by broken glass in the moments after the collision, but it could have been so much worse.

“The kids were sitting up front, talking to the coach about the game they just played,” Athletic Director Rick Stangle said. “If they were sitting where they normally sit, spread throughout the bus, it could have been really bad.”

Pickron didn’t believe her injuries required immediate medical attention so she went home, hoping she would be ready to play once the pain subsided. She was sorely mistaken.

“When I was first injured, I thought maybe I’d be out a week or maybe a month,” Pickron said. “But the pain kept increasing and never went away.”

Pickron was in such pain that she had to be home-schooled, off and on, through her junior year.

Pickron’s parents, who have each undergone multiple back surgeries, opted against surgery for their daughter. At times, Pickron felt well enough to play with the boys on the outdoor courts at Rubidoux. But she would remain on the perimeter, not daring to go inside and risk further injury.

“That’s how she started to shoot so good,” said George Moyer, a walk-on coach in his second year at Rubidoux. “She would stand outside and just fire up the bombs.”

After securing signatures from her doctors, Pickron rejoined the girls’ team in the summer of 2001, later helping the Falcons earn a share of the league title in what she figured was her final high school season.

But Stangle had begun to inquire about another season of eligibility for Pickron, who would be returning to school in the fall for a fifth year in order to graduate.

“Everybody was sure surprised when I showed up for summer practice,” Pickron said.

Pickron, who turns 19 in April, initially felt uncomfortable with the extra attention but soon felt right at home, making shot after shot from beyond the three-point arc.

She made four of five three-point shots and finished with 22 points against Redlands Arrowhead Christian in an early holiday tournament game, then made seven of eight three-pointers on the way to 26 points in the first half against Riverside Ramona last month.

When Ramona’s defense began extending to take away her outside shot, the inside opened for sisters Vanessa and Stephanie Williams, who combined for 22 second-half points.

Although Pickron’s scoring average is slightly down from last season, the other returning starters are each averaging five to six points more, Moyer said.

The Williams sisters give the Falcons a strong inside presence, Brittney Iredale is a crafty point guard and Melinda Curtis, Zelma Stover and Tiffany Tibbitts make consistent contributions.

But Moyer said Pickron’s influence on the team remains immeasurable.

“Leslie gives us a certain comfort level because of her maturity,” he said. “She’s a calming force.”

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Temecula Valley sophomore Jessica Thompson had 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals in 12 minutes Friday against visiting Murrieta Valley, helping the Golden Bears (20-4, 6-0) clinch a share of the Southwestern League title with a 52-47 victory.

It marked the first significant playing time this season for Thompson, the daughter of Rico Thompson, the boys’ basketball coach at Temecula Valley.

Jessica, who averaged 16.5 points last season, suffered a torn cartilage in her right knee in the summer, but it wasn’t fully detected until the beginning of the season.

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Tina Flores has been putting up big numbers for Los Angeles Jefferson, but Wednesday she scored some of the biggest points of her life.

Jefferson defeated L.A. Dorsey, 57-55, its first victory over its Coliseum League rival.

Flores, the leading scorer in the City Section, had 12 of her 33 points in the fourth quarter and sealed the victory with two late free throws.

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Valerie Quinn’s streak of 34 consecutive free throws ended last Tuesday when the Camarillo guard missed her first attempt against Oxnard, which eventually won the Pacific View League game, 53-38.