Brea’s greatest Ladycats on hand for Pohlen’s jersey retirement

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Anyone who’s a fan of Southland girls’ basketball should take note of what’s happening Saturday at Brea Olinda High. The Ladycats, one of the seminal programs in the region, along with Narbonne and Lynwood, helped create the blueprint for much of the basketball excellence that exists today in Southern California and the state. The program will retire the jersey of last year’s Times Player of the Year, Jeanette Pohlen, pictured.

But that’s not all. Brea has received confirmation that all eight other Ladycats who have had their jerseys retired -- including the first, Da Houl from the 1983 team -- will be on hand for what should be a pretty substantial trip down Memory Lane.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better alumni team than Carrie Egan (1987), Aimee McDaniel (1990), Tammy Blackburn (1990), Jody Anton (1992), Nicole Erickson (1994), Lindsey Davidson (1997) and Chelsea Trotter (2000).

Pohlen is in town with Stanford for its games against UCLA and, on Sunday, USC.

The evening also serves as a fund raiser for Tara Llanes, a member of the 1993-94 national championship team who went on to become a professional BMX and mountain cyclist. She was paralyzed from the waist down on Sept. 1 during a competition. She will be recognized at halftime.

Festivities begin at 6 p.m., and the Brea (9-3) game against Hanford -- think of the old Loyola Marymount team with Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble -- set to tip off at 7. The Ladycats are No. 5 in The Times preseason rankings.

-- Martin Henderson

-- Image from Shooting Stars Photography