Point well taken

Mike Sciacca

It was at the end of the third quarter of the Jan. 6 Sunset League

girls’ basketball opener between defending champion Edison and rival

Fountain Valley, when Chargers coach Corey Kelly pulled senior

starter Rebecca Kepilino aside during a timeout.

“I just let her know how many points she had already scored and

said that I could let her stay in and try to set the school record,

or come out,” Kelly explained of their timeout discussion.

The two easily decided to sit the 5-foot-11 guard/forward during

the fourth quarter, not wanting to run up any numbers of the visiting

Barons.

But by that time, Kepilino -- and the Chargers -- had already done

their damage.

She finished with a personal single game record of 40 points in

Edison’s 62-33 victory.

The single game school record for points still stands at 50, a

record set by Joan Paje, Kelly said.

Kepilino, known as “Becca” to her teammates, came into the game

averaging 18 points per outing.

She is the league’s two-time MVP winner.

“Becca just had a monstrous game,” Kelly said. “She had it all

together. She hit from the three-point line and took it to the basket

strong.”

Kepilino, whose backcourt mate is her younger sister, Wahine, a

sophomore, has been Edison’s key player the past couple of years.

She has suffered a few injury setbacks, though, including having

to undergo knee surgery early in the 2003-04 season.

The team’s co-captain has bounced back big-time, however.

“I see her still growing, not only as a player, but as a person,”

Kelly said.

“Our team respects her and responds to her leadership. She had

really matured both off and on the court, and she continues to

mature.”

Kepilino showed that maturity when Kelly asked her if she wanted

to pursue Edison’s single-game scoring record, once he let her know

she had already hit the 40-point mark, during that timeout against

Fountain Valley.

“It’s not our team style to run the score up on the opposition,”

said Kelly, who noted that Kepilino was “surprised” that she had

already scored 40 points.

“I explained that to her, but she already has known that’s not our

style, nor is it hers.

“When I then asked her if she wanted to be taken out, she said,

‘absolutely.’”