Experienced Lobos start strong

Basketball fans everywhere have heard of John Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success.”

The reverence given to the late UCLA Bruins basketball coach, and to others, makes it no wonder as to why early success is often referred to as “beginner’s luck.”

Sporting culture has conditioned its community to believe that success, and the many life lessons learned through sports, is gained by the accrual of time in service.

Therefore, favoritism is often shown to seniority as a successful model in the high school game. It’s not all together a failed philosophy when it comes complete with the right experience.

Los Amigos High’s girls’ basketball team is seeing a turnaround early in the season with the return of Cheryl Caldera.

The senior center is playing for the Lobos once again after transferring to Orangewood Academy for her sophomore season.

Valuable experience was gained playing for one of Orange County’s elite programs, as the Spartans won a CIF Southern Section Division 5AA championship that year, 51-46, over Ribet Academy of Los Angeles.

Orangewood Academy extended that season to the Southern California Regional semifinals, and as a result, the Spartans were moved up to Division 1AA for the 2015-16 campaign.

Caldera suffered an ACL tear 19 games into her sophomore season with the Spartans. She did not play any sports for Orangewood as a junior.

She is back at Los Amigos, reunited with her friends and filled with pride to return to the school where much of her family has graduated.

The Lobos have averaged just seven wins per season since they ran the table in the Garden Grove League in 2013.

Los Amigos (4-1) appears poised to reverse that trend. It is one win shy of its 2014-15 win total after winning three of its four games in the Vernie Ford Tournament at Fullerton High.

After dropping its first game against Beckman, Los Amigos rode strong second halves to win its last three games of the tournament. The Lobos outscored host Fullerton, 27-8, in the third quarter of their two meetings last week.

Caldera is leading the team by scoring 17.25 points per game, and the Lobos are coming of age together.

“We have a lot of seniors, and now the seniors are realizing that they are not just a piece right now,” Lobos Coach Sabrina White said. “They’re a major piece. They’re growing up, which we’re starting to see right now.”

There are five seniors on the team, all of which have seen expanded playing time after serving as role players in the past. Jennifer Murillo, a four-year varsity player, has stepped up by averaging 14 points over the team’s first four games.

Murillo has converted from small forward to point guard this season.

Edison is Gold in ‘Battle at the Beach’

Edison’s girls’ basketball team opened the season by discovering a feeling that it is in no hurry to forget.

The Chargers (4-0) rattled off four straight victories to win the Gold Bracket of Redondo Union High’s Battle at the Beach Tournament.

Edison did not experience a four-game winning streak all of last season, twice stringing together three wins in a row.

“It was definitely a good opening tournament for us,” Chargers Coach Sara Brown said. “We have a lot of new players, so I wasn’t really sure how we were going to gel and mesh.”

“I wanted to build a little confidence with my group because they need to know what it feels like to win.”

Brown is looking for contributions across her lineup. If the weekend is an early indicator, the Chargers should do just fine in that area.

Ryane Bradbury, Andie Kristinat, Siena Ontiveros, Ashley Niemand and Shelby Schuesler all scored in double figures in Edison’s 67-55 victory over Carson.

Kristinat had the hot hand throughout the tournament. She made five three-pointers in the team’s wins over Palos Verdes Chadwick and Harbor City Narbonne.

“She’s an extremely talented kid,” Brown said. “Definitely has a scorer’s mentality. She’s unselfish, as well, and she tries to distribute to the rest of the team when she can.”