In the Shadows : They’ve Got the Skills, They’ve Got the Stats, but These Players Don’t Get the Attention the Stars Do

They aren’t on the preseason recruiting lists and are rarely the subjects of feature stories or profiles.

Yet, they can be stars on poor teams or secondary players in the shadows of greatness. The general public may not know their names, but their coaches do.

They are underrated players, the ones who are appreciated by their teammates if not by anyone else.

Who are Orange County’s best unknowns, the ones deserving of a few moments in the spotlight?

Whitney Houser Laguna Hills/Girls’ Basketball

During Laguna Hills’ tremendous run to the Southern Section semifinals last season, Whitney Houser played the junk man. She collected the garbage and put it in the can. Game after game, it seemed, she was getting an offensive rebound or loose ball and putting it in the basket. If she wasn’t doing that, she was tweaking opponents with a trademark eight-foot baseline jumper.

Laguna Hills, ranked No. 1 in Orange County, has four starters back from last year’s team. Its two “stars” are Tayyiba Haneef, at 6 feet 6 the county’s most intimidating defensive force, and Tamara Inoue, one of the county’s best point guards. Houser is an afterthought.

And therein lies the opportunity for a 5-foot-11 forward.

“When you prepare for Laguna Hills, you try to figure out how to stop the interior pass to Haneef,” Mater Dei Coach Mary Hauser said. “In the meantime, it’s Houser who kills you because she can run the baseline, play the high post and hit the 15-footer, and when you’re so busy boxing out Haneef, [Houser] goes in and gets the offensive rebound and puts it back in. And she runs the floor like a guard.”

Houser, who is averaging 12.9 points, made nine of 10 field goals in Laguna Hills’ 63-38 victory over Mater Dei on Dec. 6.

The timing of Houser’s scoring is often more important than her total points. Few players perform as well in big games. In last Saturday’s 55-48 victory over third-ranked Woodbridge, five of Houser’s nine points came after the Warriors tied the score in the fourth quarter.

In last season’s triple-overtime loss to Ocean View in the section II-A semifinals, Houser had seven of her 16 points in the overtime periods, including a three-point basket at the buzzer to force the second overtime.

In last season’s double-overtime loss to Ocean View in the Marina tournament semifinals, Houser scored 12 points, but had eight of her team’s 13 overtime points.

That game, she said, was her defining moment.

“I was the reason we didn’t win in regulation and I felt I had to redeem myself,” she said. “I was more angry in overtime. I didn’t have a good game, and I did a lot of stuff in overtime that I didn’t know I could do--post up, drive to the basket, be more aggressive. From then on, I played at that level.”

Perhaps her crowning accolade took place at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions last month. Houser, who still doesn’t have a college scholarship, was the only Laguna Hills player to make the all-tournament team.

A gym rat, Houser fractured her ankle against Edison in the first game of this season’s Marina tournament. She continued to play and had a lousy game. Yet, as Edison whittled away at a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, it was Houser who hit a couple of big baskets at the end. She missed the next seven games before returning last week.

“It seems like the biggest games we play, the ones with the most pressure, she’s our leading scorer and hits the key shot at the end,” said Laguna Hills Coach Lynn Taylor, who says Houser’s even-keeled personality might have something to do with her big-game success. “And she’s shown that over and over again.”

Coach Pat Quinn, whose Woodbridge team won the Division II state title, watched Houser closely last season and faced her three times this season.

“I thought she played off Haneef, but I think everyone else plays off of [Houser] now,” Quinn said. “There’s nothing flashy, nothing spectacular, but she has solid stats when the game’s done.

“She doesn’t look panicked in traffic. She can have three or four people around her, [yet] she grabs the ball and knows whether she’s in position to dribble, shoot or clear out; the wheels are turning very fast, and she’s making good decisions quickly. I haven’t seen her take a bad shot yet. She knows what she can do and doesn’t try to venture too far from that.

“She’s the heart and soul of that team.”