Slow Start Is Over for San Clemente

After having Lindsey Pluimer as its trump card the last four years, San Clemente had to learn a whole new style and sense of self-reliance this season.

The Tritons, who have won four consecutive Southern Section championships, found simple tournament titles tough going in the early season.

But they seemed to have turned the corner two weeks ago when they were a surprise winner of the Orange County Championships tournament. The Tritons beat two teams ranked at the time, Huntington Beach Edison (71-44) and Newhall Hart (58-52), on consecutive nights.

Hart had lost to San Clemente in the section finals three years in a row, but with Pluimer’s graduation and the return of Hart’s Ashlee Trebilcock, a reversal of fortune seemed in order. But San Clemente, rotating 13 players into the lineup and pressing for 32 minutes, pulled off the shocker.

“I knew we were good, but the kids didn’t know it yet,” San Clemente Coach Mary Mulligan said. “We have a younger group. When it got into a close game and we didn’t have Lindsey Pluimer to pull us out, it took us a while to figure out who was going to step up in crunch time.”

Guards Lauren Redfield and Kirsten Commins and center Crystal Hahs were the seniors who stepped up.

Mulligan took part of the blame for the slow start, which included losses in three of the first six games.

“We had to make some adjustments, work a little more on being a pressing team, because we haven’t been a pressing team the last four years,” said Mulligan, whose team is 9-3. “As a coach, I assumed the kids knew a lot more than they did about pressing.”

The new-look Tritons will face two rivals in upcoming games when they play host to Brea Olinda at 3 p.m. Saturday and Fullerton Troy at 7 p.m. Monday.

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While San Clemente has speeded up its game, Etiwanda has gone the other way.

“We changed our philosophy this year,” Coach Robert Siler said. “We concentrate on slowing the ball down.”

Behind Lyneeka Boyd and Aujanee Baldwin, the Eagles are 14-3. Two losses were to undefeated La Puente Bishop Amat -- once in the finals of the Artesia tournament -- and the other to Riverside Poly in the opening round of the Chino Hills Ayala tournament.

The Eagles have seven sophomores and a reputation for not living up to expectations.

“I know we’ve got that knock,” Siler said, “but we lost three girls last year to [knee] injuries. We were forced to stick freshmen in there, and they’d make so many mistakes.”

It probably helped in the long run. This season’s team is more mature.

“We still have a long way to go,” Siler said, “but we’re excited about next year.”

They should be excited about next week. On Monday at Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos High, the Eagles play Erika Arriaran and undefeated Norco at 3 p.m.

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Among the top league games this week are Moreno Valley Canyon Springs at Riverside North in the Ivy League tonight at 6:30; Santa Ana Mater Dei at Fullerton Rosary in the Serra League at 7 p.m. Thursday; Long Beach Wilson at Long Beach Poly in the Moore League at 5 p.m. Friday; and Norco at Corona Centennial in the Mountain View League at 7:30 p.m. Friday.