Nowadays, a Girl’s Place Is in the Gym

SACRAMENTO —  For those who can’t comprehend the revolutionary changes taking place in girls’ athletics, meet 16-year-old Crissy DeLuzio, a junior guard for San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral High.

Born in 1981, the year of the first state girls’ basketball championship tournament, DeLuzio didn’t know Cynthia Cooper or Cheryl Miller, the first icons of California prep girls’ basketball.

But Cooper and Miller helped pave the way for girls to start realizing it was OK to start playing the game at a young age, just like the boys.

DeLuzio started at age 5.

“It was me and my mom out on the court,” she said.

She’s part of the new wave of girl gym rats taking over the game. Her 29-point performance Saturday during Sacred Heart’s 67-54 victory over Alemany in the state Division III final at the Arco Arena was a moment to remember.

“This is our third week in a big arena and I haven’t seen anybody shoot like that, boy or girl,” Alemany Coach Melissa Hearlihy said.

DeLuzio made four consecutive three-point shots in the second quarter when Sacred Heart (22-10) outscored the Indians, 26-12, to take a 38-25 halftime lead.

With DeLuzio making 11 of 18 shots, Alemany (27-7) could never get back into the game.

“She hit her first one, then her second one and started to get comfortable,” Hearlihy said. “She got on fire.”

Alemany started the game focusing its 2-3 zone defense on stopping 6-foot-2 Pepperdine-bound center Sarah Richen.

But as DeLuzio began swishing three- pointers, Alemany’s strategy fell apart.

“They were leaving me so wide open and I didn’t hesitate [to shoot],” DeLuzio said.

Sacred Heart has six freshmen on its roster. Alemany started two freshmen. To reach a state final with so many young players might be considered a fluke. It isn’t. Girls are entering high school with years of experience from playing on traveling teams, just like the boys.

DeLuzio had the advantage of already having played at the Arco Arena, home of the Sacramento Kings. She was involved in a shooting contest last year as part of a WNBA promotion with the Sacramento Monarchs.

“People travel in the summer and the competition is great,” DeLuzio said. “I’m going to a camp this summer for the top 100 people in the country in Chicago.”

Another gym rat is Alemany freshman Karina Siam, who scored 13 points Saturday.

“I remember when I was turning 5, all I wanted was a basketball hoop,” Siam said. “My first organized game was fourth grade and I couldn’t stop. I love basketball. I can’t imagine my life without it.”

Players like DeLuzio and Siam provide clear examples how girls’ basketball is changing. No longer are the elite teams just relying on one top player. There are players throughout the lineup who must be stopped.

“I think a lot of girls played when they were young, but now what you have is instead of playing in park leagues, you have girls 8, 9 playing AAU ball year round with good coaching going to national tournaments,” said former Alemany star Charli Turner-Thorn, the women’s coach at Arizona State. “Players are getting better and better.”

For Alemany, the loss produced tears not only from their 36-year-old coach who was seeking her 300th career victory but from the players hoping to bring home the first state title for the Mission Hills school.

“I can’t feel like a loser right now,” Hearlihy said.

The fact the Indians made it here almost was an impossible dream.

It was June 30, 1997, that changed Alemany’s season forever. That was the day common sense prevailed over innuendo and diversion. It was the day Father Robert Milbauer, Alemany’s principal, offered a one-year contract to Hearlihy, reversing the earlier erroneous decision of the archdiocese to fire her because of a dispute with a parent.

Hearlihy showed up for a summer league game that night to resume her coaching duties.

“I was so happy,” sophomore guard Kate Beckler recalled. “I just ran up to coach and hugged her. It was great. It didn’t matter whether we won or lost--we got her back. Emotions were flying everywhere.”

Slowly, the team came together, with just one senior starter in the lineup. The Indians shared the Mission League title with Harvard-Westlake, won the Southern Section Division III-AA championship and the Division III Southern Regional.

The future is more than bright with players like the 5-10 Siam. Afterward, she was already reviewing what she needed to do to improve.

“I think Richen is awesome,” she said of Sacred Heart’s center. “I hit a few shots and she started to guard me. It was constant bang, bang, bang. She wore me down.

“I’m going to work harder, I’m going to become stronger. I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can to someday be like Richen.”

Siam talks like a boys’ player. How times have changed.

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Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.