March 18, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Pinewood girls are wary of favorite's role in Division V state hoop finals

by Keith Peters

The scouting reports say the Pinewood girls' basketball team will beat Pacific Hills today in Sacramento's ARCO Arena and claim the 2005 CIF Division V state championship.

Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler, however, is wary of such a prediction. He knows firsthand the downside of such a situation.

"The general consensus of the people in the north is that we're a favorite in this game," Scheppler said. "But, if you play your worst, you're not going to win."

That's the nightmare that still haunts Scheppler to this day. The year was 2000, a season removed from Pinewood's first-ever state championship - also won in ARCO Arena.

Pinewood was a heavy favorite to dispose of Redwood Christian in the Northern California Division V championship game, having beaten the same team twice during the regular season in addition to the CCS finals.

Like today's game, everything pointed toward a Pinewood victory.

The Panthers, however, made only nine of 51 shots that day. They were a miserable four of 22 from the three-point arc and were shockingly upset, 42-31.

Said Scheppler after the game: "The worst nightmare any team can go through."

Scheppler still echoes those thoughts today.

"I remember my wife (Trish) saying 'that was one of the worst days of my life," Scheppler recalled this week. "She remembers that with extreme negativity."

Current Pinewood junior Liz Altmaier was a sixth-grader then and watched her future team lose, leaving the game teary-eyed.

"We were going in with heavy expectations," Scheppler recalled. "We played as a favorite, played a little tight. They were loose, with nothing to lose. We were the hunted and they were the hunter . . . from our perspective, it was the worst day of our life."

Neither Altmaier nor Scheppler want to experience that again.

"We know we can lose (today) because of that Redwood Christian game," Scheppler said. "Things happen, no matter what people say; no matter what people think.

"Do I need to remind my team of that game? No. The girls need to be built up, not reminded of something that might tear them down. I have to make this a positive thing."

Pinewood goes into today's championship with a 25-5 record and having won 18 straight. Pacific Hills, a small private school in West Hollywood, is 28-4 with a 10-game winning streak.

Pinewood is playing Goliath today while Pacific Hills is David, even though reports out of Southern California aren't similarly reflective.

"They don't know that we're a very good team," Scheppler said.

Pinewood will concentrate on the basics, defense and shooting. The Panthers defend very well and can take opponents out of their comfort zone. With that accomplished, all Pinewood needs to do is knock down their three-pointers or get inside to 6-foot-1 freshman Aly Geppert. A third option that has worked well is just taking the ball to the basket with Altmaier, senior Daniela Roark and sophomore Tika Koshiyama-Diaz doing a good job of that.

Pacific Hills does not make the three-point shot a real weapon in its arsenal. The Bruins have two players who have made 17 treys this season. Roark, on the other hand, has made 78.

Pinewood left for Sacramento on Thursday, in order to get the players settled in and make the trip to ARCO easier today. Scheppler was debating whether to take away his players' cell phones last night, which is what Santa Cruz coach Pete Newell Jr. did with his team before last weekend's NorCal finals.

"As a matter of fact," Scheppler said, "I told the girls I might do that before Pete came up with the idea. I thought of that last week. It's a great idea.

"But boys are hell to take on the road," Scheppler continued. "Girls are better. They just get together and everything are these mini-dramas. But they do like to talk."

After today, the Pinewood girls just may be talking about their latest state championship.

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