The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 136

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1995 LOS ANGELES TIMES Orange County Sports THE PREPS ROUNDUP Division i gibls' das.cetdall ciiAr.iPionsiiiP Foothill Girls Rally, Beat Fountain Valley These Monarchs Rule, Too Under Hauser's Direction, Mater Dei Girls Keep Pace With Boys ,1 1. i it if ij 1 vA'x 1 'I iV threw a three-hitter, striking out nine and walking one, for visiting Orange Lutheran (3-2, 1-0). In the third-place game of the Loara tournament: El Dorado 11, San Clements 4 Trent Cuevas went four for four with three runs batted in, including a two-run home run, for El Dorado (4-1). In nonleague baseball: Fountain Valley 5, Long Beach Milllkan 5 (7Vj, darkness) Fountain Valley (4-0-1), ranked first in Division had runners on first and third with no outs when the game was called. Millikan, ranked third in Division had scored four runs in the top of the seventh to tie it.

Newport Harbor 6, Laguna Beach 5 (8) Dan Eadie walked with two outs, stole second, went to third on a balk and scored on another in the eighth for Newport Harbor (4-1). Loara Diamond Bar 4 Loara's Archie Lappin singled in the tying run, reached second on a wild pitch, and scored the go-ahead run on Chris Cramer's single in the sixth. Art Ortiz had two doubles and two RBIs for the Saxons 4 -1 Valencia 13, Garden Grove 12 Joe Secoda drove in the tying and winning runs with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning for Valencia (1-1). Marina 7-4, Santa Margarita 4-0 Bryan Pawly (1-1) pitched a one-hit shutout in the second game for host Marina 5-1 In nonleague golf: Servlte 182, Mater Del 193 A double bogey on the eighth hole did not prevent Jeff McGraw from becoming the medalist with a three-under 31 for Servite (2-1) at the Fullerton Golf Course. In nonleague boys' swimming: Villa Park 104, San Clemente 66 Brian Pharris won the 500 freestyle (5:10.58) and 200 freestyle (1:49.60) for host Villa Park (4-0).

San Clemente's Andy Bailey won the 100 butterfly in 55.91. In nonleague girls' swimming: Villa Park 112, San Clemente 58 Jessica Klugman won the 200 freestyle (204.07) and 500 freestyle (5:40.34) and anchored winning teams in the 200 medley relay (1:57.78) and 400 freestyle relay (4:07.94) for host Villa Park (2-2). to participate in open gym at Mater Dei. Her sister Geri, who is her assistant coach and graduated in 1987, was the second. Those hours paid off, and they apparently know what they're doing.

Hauser ran her undersized team into the ground to get ready for the season. Meyers said Saturday, "During preseason conditioning, I went, 'Look, why are we doing But you could see that payoff in the second half against Clovis West. We saw them slow down." Mater Dei's plan is to play as fast a pace as possible. The conditioning was critical. The team wins because it plays defense from start to finish.

No starter is taller than 5 feet 10 inches. Freshman Amy DeCinces is 6-1 and junior Kristy Prchal 6-2, but neither played in the Southern Section or regional championship game. "I'm a little surprised at what we've accomplished," Hauser said. "I knew the kids had it in them, in terms of ability to play with anybody else, but to continually beat ranked teams this year is a compliment to them. "If you asked me why we're 28-1, it's more than just us having more talent than other people.

In many games, we've played against teams with as much or more talent in certain positions, but the kids never backed down from that." Kind of like Hauser as a player. "For being a young coaching staff, going to the State final gives you credibility," said McKnight, who has won 10 Section and two State titles. "I remember our first few years when we won CIF titles, people said, 'You haven't won any State "Now they've gone from winning league to winning CIF to playing for a State championship. When people talk about their program, they have won the big games. They're at the level of a Brea or a Woodbridge.

They're legitimate." By MARTIN HENDERSON TIMES STAFF WRITER Si ANTA ANA-When Mary Gainey graduated from Mater Dei in 1985, she was one of the county's best point guards ever. She went on to a successful career at Fresno State. Mary Gainey Hauser is a success again at Mater Dei. As coach. Under her direction, the -1 Monarch girls have finally broken away from the long shadow of the boys' program.

Everyone knows the boys can play. They're ranked No. 1 in the nation. The eirls are ranked in the too 20. baiuraay ai me uaKiana Coliseum Arena, Hauser's team will try to win a State title I- against fifth-ranked Atherton Sacred Heart.

I But win or lose, this Monarch team is a pioneer, having ushered Dei (28-1) into big-time girls' athletics. it's hard to hold back the tears," Hauser said after I Saturday's victory that qualified Mater Dei for the State championship. "I can't say enough about these guys I love them." A And she loves Mater Dei, from 'the time she was 5 watching her 1 brother, Bill, play on the freshman team. She was a mascot at 6 and a ball girl at 8. She has grown up with Mater Dei, and the girls' basketball program has grown up with her.

The Monarchs had never advanced beyond the Southern Section quarterfinals. With Hauser as coach the last two years, they have been to the Southern Section finals twice, and now the State finals. "Mater Dei shaped me as a person," Hauser said. "Once I finished college, I wanted to go back to Mater Dei to give back to the kids the experience that I had as a player, the things that I Defensive-minded Foothill went on the offensive to defeat Fountain Valley, 7-6, in six innings in the second round of the Laguna Hills softball tournament Tuesday at Alicia Park in Mission Viejo. In the bottom of the sixth, with the score tied, 6-6, and time running out the teams were allowed only 1 hour 45 minutes to complete the game left fielder Lauren Bauer hit a line drive to center to drive in the winning run.

Foothill (5-0) advanced to the third round, where the Knights will play El Toro today. "Defense is usually our game," Coach Joe Gonzalez said. "But today for them to come back twice you really have to credit the girls." Fountain Valley (2-3) made things difficult immediately, scoring three runs in the first inning. Foothill came back with two in the first, and another in the second, but allowed another run in the third. Ahead 4-3 in the fifth inning with 15 minutes left to play, Baron leadoff hitter Lindsey Collins reached on a bunt, stole second, went to third on a sacrifice by Lynea Backlund and scored when shortstop Michelle Churnock bob-bled the ball and overthrew her Alicia Burdick advanced to first on the error and scored on Laurie Gillis' double and Foothill again was down by three.

Bauer grounded up the middle, went to second on Robin Tess-man's single and both scored when Marie Gieron's line-drive single got past Carolyn Caforio. Lindsay Gossatti struck out for the second out, and Aimie Barne doubled down the first-base line to bring home Rosie Gustavson, running for Gieron at third. -HEATHER STEVENS In a nonleague softball game: Orange 7, Tustin 6 Lindsay Huebner went three for three with one run scored and Julie Marcland scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead Orange (1-1) back from a six-run deficit. In Olympic League baseball: Orange Lutheran 5, Brethren Christian 1 Adam Cavaness NOTES With Mater Dei's Michelle Meyers, left, and Melody Peterson, right, on defense, opponents have to fight for every point. The Biggest Little School Exclusive Sacred Heart Prep (Enrollment 288) Is a Division I Power Rancho Alamitos Fires Girls' Basketball Coach DAVID KAWASHIMA For The Times want to win because last year we got there and lost.

Now we've won CIF and we want to get to The Pond in the Regional. Now we've won it. Now we want State. We just continue to build goals. We're not satisfied with the season yet.

"Hauser's first year here was the furthest we've ever gone, and in her second year we improved it." Not even the boys' program was playing for the State title in Coach Gary McKnight's second season. "When you can help kids and see them progress and grow and gain opportunities," Hauser said, "it feels good because I always remember that as a kid, someone looked out for me and gave me those experiences." Hauser, an All-Southern Section player, was the first girl teacher at Taylor called to say Robinson was interested in attending Sacred Heart. Robinson and Ciardella have developed a relationship that goes beyond coach and player. Unlike many Sacred Heart students, Robinson rides a bus to school from her father's home in East Palo Alto. When Robinson had difficulty adjusting to school in her freshman year, Ciardella was there to encourage her.

Robinson often visits the coach at his home, where his wife helps her type her school papers. "I love that guy," Robinson said. "He's like a father." She said she has a special, corporate sponsorship that financially allows her to go to Sacred Heart. That would have been against CIF rules if the school had secured the donation for Robinson for athletic purposes. But a recent CIF investigation of the situation turned up no violation.

Ciardella has drawn similar scrutiny for his volatile coaching style. In the second quarter of a recent game, Ciardella knelt, almost pleading with his players, then jumped up and stomped down the sideline, arms flailing. At that point, the Gators were leading, 39-8. "What I like more than anything else about him," said Dee Circle, Jenny Circle's father, "he never coaches the score." Players support Ciardella's methods. "People say, 'He's so loud, how do you handle the said Dawn Desautels, a junior guard.

"But in the past, when he hasn't yelled, we've played down." Ciardella has been accused of carrying his passion for the game too far, however. After Sacred Heart defeated Monta Vista in last season's Northern California regional final, Ciardella got into a yelling match with Monta Vista's twin stars, Kim and Kristin Clark. Monta Vista Coach Virgil Pate ripped Ciardella, calling him "classless" and "embarrassing." The next day, Sacred Heart Principal Richard Dioli awoke to newspaper headlines about Ciardella's explosion. "That was the hardest day," said Dioli, who had left the game learned as a person. It was such a good experience for me, I wanted it to be a good experience for the kids." The experiences have accumulated game by game.

"When we started out, all we wanted to do was get to the Southern Section finals and play Ventura Buena," forward Margaret Hollis said. "After we found out we could beat Buena, it was like, 'There's no stopping us And every day it was like, We can't lose now, we can't lose because we're competing with the boys for the last window in the gym to put up a championship banner." But each victory brought new expectations. "Each time we accomplished a goal, we set a new one," forward Michelle Meyers said. "We said, 'OK, now we got to CIP, now we MARK HUNDLEY For The Times Sacred Heart Prep girls' basketball Coach Mike Ciardella makes a point to his players. Felts to lead the Gators to the Division State championship.

All three players have since gone on to NCAA Division I programs Rizzo to California, Miller to Loyola Marymount and Felts to Colorado. Last year, with Felts returning, the Gators were favored to repeat as Division champions. But before the season, Jenny Circle, a 6-foot-3 center who is one of the state's best players, decided to leave Los Altos High because its girls' basketball team was struggling. Circle visited the Sacred Heart campus and was sent on a tour with Felts, who proved an effective recruiter. Circle chose to attend Sacred Heart and it took Ciardella only a few minutes to decide to move Sacred Heart to Division I.

Circle combined with Felts, Kobie Kennon, who is headed to Cal next season, and guard Renee Robinson to lead Sacred Heart to the championship. The Gators have lost only one game this season, and one reason for their success is Robinson, a flashy junior point guard who, Ciardella said, could be the program's best player yet. Robinson started on the Millbrae Taylor Middle School boys' team as an eighth-grader. Ciardella heard about her in 1992, when a physical education I i -w 1 early the previous evening to attend a school play. "It made me do a lot of soul-searching about the type of person Mike is." Ciardella called the twins to apologize and Dioli decided Ciardella could stay, saying, "None of us are perfect." Ciardella, 47, refuses to change.

"If you are a teacher and the period is 50 minutes, do you teach for 40?" he said. Ciardella also said he was criticized unfairly because many think his style is too aggressive for girls. "If I was this aggressive with the boys' team, I don't think anybody would say a word," Ciardella said. "I'm coaching basketball players. They are not girls, they are basketball players.

They want to be treated as athletes." But perhaps more important, the players said, they are treated as friends. Sometimes, the Sacred Heart players need a shoulder for support. The pressure of playing for such a high-profile program can come from all sides. Some parents are banking on their daughters earning college scholarships. "We felt like paying the tuition money now, we won't have to pay it later," said Doc Sheppler, the father of Kacey Sheppler, a freshman.

Some players feel other kinds of family pressure. Trisha Felts, a sophomore forward, is the younger sister of former star Alexis. "I look at old videos of Alexis playing and I think, 'I'm never going to be that she said. Perhaps the biggest cause of pressure was the winning streak. Every game had added significance and the media hype didn't let the Gators forget it.

"It was really the newspapers that gave us the pressure," Circle said. But in the second round of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, Brea Olinda ended the streak, 57-56. And after the tears, there was a sense of relief. "It was horrible to lose," Desautels said. "But it let a lot of pressure off." By WENDY WITHERSPOON TIMES STAFF WRITER ATHERTON, a eucalyptus-lined avenue, where mansions nestle behind ivy-covered brick walls, Corvette convertibles and BMWs slip through the iron gates of Sacred Heart Preparatory.

For nearly 100 years, the privileged have been educated in the serenity of this wooded, 64-acre campus that lies in the shadow of Stanford University. Recently, however, the tranquillity has been disrupted by the success of the school's girls' basketball team. The Gators' remarkable success has invited scrutiny of their explosive coach and a pressurized environment created by media and parental expectations. After winning the State Division championship in 1993, Sacred Heart jumped to Division I last season and became the smallest school ever to win the elite-division championship. And Sacred Heart had an 80-game winning streak before it lost this season to Brea Olinda.

The streak was four games shy of the state record, set by the Cheryl Miller-led Riverside Poly team in 1980-82. In the four years since the arrival of Coach Mike Ciardella, the Gators' record is 138-5, including 64-0 in the Girls' Private School League. This season, they have a 37-1 record and will play Mater Dei (28-1 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena at 6 p.m. Saturday in the State Division I final. That Sacred Heart even competes in Division I is remarkable, considering its enrollment of 288.

Lynwood, which lost to Sacred Heart in last year's title game, has an enrollment of 3,400. How did such a tiny school develop one of the best girls' basketball program in the state? The foundation was set in the 1991-92 season with the arrival of Ciardella, who had quit as coach of Burlingame Mercy after three seasons. The next season, seniors Liz Rizzo and Wendy Miller combined with junior Alexis March 26, and the boys' game, featuring the Monarchs and Oakland Fremont, will follow at 1 p.m. Cypress baseball team has forfeited two games because of an ineligible player. The Centurions are 0-4.

Troy point guard Dinah Shah has signed a letter of intent to play women's basketball at Concordia University. Shah averaged 11.8 points, 4.4 assists and 3.6 steals for the Warriors. She was the Freeway League's player of the year. Surfs up: Huntington Beach and Dana Hills finished the season ranked No. 1 in the final California Interscholastic Surfing Federation Division 4-A boys' and girls' polls.

Wyatt Simmons of Huntington Beach was named Division 4-A boys' MVP. Dana Hills finished ranked second, San Clemente sixth and Edison eighth. Dana Hills was the No. 1 -ranked girls' team, featuring MVP Kirsten Raymond. Huntington Beach finished ranked third, San Clemente sixth and Edison seventh.

Capistrano Valley, led by MVP David Pinto, finished top-ranked in Division 3-A. Orange County All-CISF honor-ees: Division 4-A Boys' first team Travis Breaux, Dana Hills; Rod Brewster, Dana Hills; Andy Hobson, Huntington Beach; Trevor Martinez, Dana Hills; Chad Mitchell, Dana Hills; Wyatt Simmons, Huntington Beach; Duane Toole, Huntington Beach; Ben Will, Huntington Beach. MVP Simmons. Girls' first team Karlie Noyes, Dana Hills; Kirsten Raymond, Dana Hills. MVP Raymond.

Second team Chad Bradford, Dana Hills; Adam Deibert, Edison; John McCu-sick, Edison; Janel Mclnnes, Huntington Beach; Ian McPhillips, San Clemente. Division 3-A First team David Pinto, Capistrano Valley; Justin Hansch, Capistrano Valley; Zack Abubo, Fountain Valley; Kristine Plunkett, Capistrano Valley; Wendi Miller, Aliso Ni- guel; Nick Frattone, Santa Margarita. Second team Matt Buchagen, Capistrano Valley; Tristen Caruso, Fountain Valley; Wendy Edgely, Santa Margarita; Brady Gallagher, Santa Margarita; Dave Meineke, Aliso Niguel; Leana Rosien, Aliso Niguel; Jeff Sikand, Miso Niguel. Boys' MVP Pinto. Pete Pyle, who replaced Bob Becker at Rancho Alamitos as girls' basketball coach, was fired Tuesday, one week after players in the program voted by almost a 2-1 ratio that he not return as coach.

"This is not a mutual thing. This is not an 'I resigned kind of Pyle said. "You have to please the parents during the season, and now it's to the point where I have to please the girls at practice too. The girls are voting who should coach and who shouldn't. If you can't yell at them because they're going to vote you out of a job, you're in a tough position.

To me, that doesn't make sense. "If that's the way it's going to be, I don't want to be in the profession." Rancho Alamitos was 8-14 this season, 6-6 in the Garden Grove League. A year ago in his first season, the Vaqueros were 20-7, 13-1 and shared the league title. But the Vaqueros had a history of excellence under Becker, who directed them to three Southern Section finals (and one title) in four years. But under Pyle who graduated from Rancho in 1981 and coached the freshman boys for four years some of that momentum Becker had developed in the program slipped away.

Among player complaints were the lack of a summer tournament and Rancho Alamitos skipping the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions a tournament that included some of the top teams in the state and nation. Principal Tom Robbins said he was told Tuesday of Athletic Director Dan Rankin's decision, which came after 23 returning players in the program voted 13-7, with three abstentions, that Pyle not return. "I would hire him again to coach boys, without question," Rankin said. "It was his inability to adjust his style to deal with the girls." -MARTIN HENDERSON The State Division I boys' and girls' basketball championship games Saturday night will be televised by Prime Sports in Southern California, but eight days later, the CIF office announced Tuesday. The girls' game, featuring Mater Dei and Atherton Sacred Heart will be shown at 11 a.m.

on Sunday,.