Charlene Schuessler

It's not quite the financial mecca of women's basketball some countries are, but there's decent cash to be made. It's a notch or two below the best professional leagues in Europe--or for that matter the top collegiate conferences in the United States--but it beats playing for nothing more than pride with a recreational or industrial outfit. It's a far cry from the cosmopolitan glamour of Rome or Paris or Madrid, but it's not Peoria. Or Cleveland.

It's not quite the financial mecca of women's basketball some countries are, but there's decent cash to be made. It's a notch or two below the best professional leagues in Europe--or for that matter the top collegiate conferences in the United States--but it beats playing for nothing more than pride with a recreational or industrial outfit. It's a far cry from the cosmopolitan glamour of Rome or Paris or Madrid, but it's not Peoria. Or Cleveland.

Santa Barbara Tournament Brea-Olinda 78, Louisville 68 HIGHLIGHTS: Louisville's Lynn Flanagan led the Lady Cats early in the first quarter. . . . Brea-Olinda came back behind the shooting of Kristen Blair, who scored eight points in the second quarter. . . . With a 10-point halftime lead, the Lady Cats continued to out-score Louisille, maintaining a 10-point lead. . . . Brea-Olinda is undefeated in nine games. Louisville is 3-3.

After three straight failures, the Brea-Olinda High School girls' basketball team won a Southern Section championship, defeating East Tustin Foothill, 54-50, Friday night for the 3-A title in Kellogg Gymnasium at Cal Poly Pomona. Brea, which lost to Foothill, 63-34, in last season's 3-A final, took the lead with 2:10 left in the first quarter and never relinquished it, although Foothill came within two points on several occasions. Carrie Egan led the victorious Wildcats with 15 points.

Brea Olinda advanced to the finals of the Irvine girls' basketball tournament Thursday night by defeating Marina, 78-39, at Irvine High School. Denise Welland dominated the game with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals for the Wildcats. Teammate Charlene Schuessler scored 14 points as Brea Olinda improved its record to 3-0. The Vikings fell to 2-1.

Most--but not all--of the area's finest graduating girls' high school basketball players will play in the first half of today's Orange County all-star doubleheader, beginning at 5 p.m. in Peterson Gymnasium at Orange Coast College. The North team figures to be led by Magnolia center Michelle Carter, El Dorado forward Jill Matyuch, Esperanza forward Sharon Warmus, Western guard Melanie Williams and Brea-Olinda guard Charlene Schuessler. Carter, who averaged 30.

Mark Trakh, Brea-Olinda High School girls' basketball coach, was remarkably relaxed before his team's semifinal game Saturday in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions. The Wildcats were to play Christ the King of Queens, N.Y., which has two All-American guards, a 6-foot 3-inch center and the No. 1 ranking in the nation. So what's to worry? "We're just going to run and shoot it up," Trakh said. And gee, wouldn't you know that's just the way the game was won.

Chanelle McCoy found herself in an unfamiliar position Tuesday night at the start of the girls' Division I Southern Regional playoff game between Point Loma and Brea-Olinda at Peterson Gym. McCoy usually starts at point guard for Point Loma. Not this time. Instead, she found herself sitting on the bench, having incurred the wrath of Coach Lee Trepanier. In the end, the discipline turned out to do McCoy and the Pointers a world of good.

Saddleback High School guard Bryant Walton, The Times' Orange County Player of the Year, heads the selections for the South team in the Orange County All-Star basketball game June 21 in Orange Coast College's Peterson Gym. Walton will attend the University of California in the fall. He averaged 24.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists and shot 56% from the field last season. The South figures to be strong in the backcourt with Nathan Call of Capistrano Valley, who averaged 8.

The Brea-Olinda High School girls' basketball team accomplished what it set out to do against Point Loma and still lost to the Pointers, 68-50, in the third-place game of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions at Robertson Gymnasium at UC Santa Barbara. "We've got to keep Terri Mann under 50 points," said Wildcat Coach Mark Trakh, explaining his rather simple, if not tongue-in-cheek strategy. Not that Mann isn't capable.

Michelle Carter scored 18 points and grabbed 23 rebounds to lead Magnolia High School to a 49-37 victory over Laguna Hills in the opening round of the Garden Grove Tournament Saturday at Garden Grove High School. Sophomore Dawn Borum also played well for the unbeaten Sentinels (3-0) with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Laguna Hills fell to 0-3 with the loss.