Thornton’s team comes new and improved

The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team lost 92.6% of its scoring and 93.3% of its rebounding from a team that finished 30-6, set a school record for regular-season wins (27) and advanced to the state semifinals.

But Coach Mike Thornton enters his 18th season with a team that could surpass the notable accomplishments of the 2005-06 Pirates.

“We probably weren’t as talented last year as we are this year,” said Thornton, who is 383-178 after Friday’s 79-44 win over Solano.

Tuesday was the collegiate debut for all but two OCC players, returning sophomore Devin Hundley and sophomore Robin Smith, a transfer from Irvine Valley College, where she earned All-Orange Empire Conference laurels.

But a crop of freshman that constitute what Thornton said may be his best recruiting class ever should help Pirates fans forget about the loss of five sophomore starters.

Jillian Ricks (UC San Diego), Madison Parks (Long Beach State), Valerie Katayama (Redlands) are all playing at four-year schools, while Crystal McCormick is no longer playing and Teeya Fernandez is an assistant on Thornton’s staff.

“They played hard and just found ways to win,” Thornton said of last year’s squad, which he believed overachieved.

Smith, who starts at point guard, averaged 13.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds for a 22-9 Irvine Valley team last season.

Hundley, who came off the bench, but started Tuesday, averaged 4.7 points as a freshman.

Smith had 13 points Tuesday. Hundley added 12.

The leading scorer with 28 in the opener was Courtney Ford, a 5-foot-7 freshman guard out of Villa Park High, where she earned first-team All-CIF Southern Section recognition.

“We can use her at guard, wing and forward,” said Thornton, who last spring called Ford the best recruit of his OCC tenure. “If you were picking kids just off physical appearance, she might be one of the last ones you’d pick. But she is very solid, overall, and she’s very competitive. She can take people off the dribble, she jumps well and she goes to the boards.”

Rachel Maulit, a two-time Sunset League Most Valuable Player as a 5-5 guard at Marina High, is also a projected standout in a 10-player rotation Thornton said will render starting status virtually moot.

“We talked to our kids about the fact that we have 10 kids capable of starting at any time,” Thornton said. “I’m not even sure this team really needs a starting lineup. We can go big, in between or small, depending on who we are playing and how our players are playing at the time.”

Maulit is another option at point guard.

On the wings, Ford and Hundley, whom Thornton said has matured both on the floor and off, will be joined by freshmen Katie Kissee and Erin Barney.

Kissee was a 5-5 second-team All-CIF performer at Villa Park High.

Barney was a 5-10 first-team All-CIF honoree at Huntington Beach High.

Both joined Maulit, Ford and 5-10 Brittany Taylor in the Orange County All-Star Game last spring.

Taylor, who turned down a scholarship offer from Utah State to remain close to home, and Lindsey Allen, a 6-1 freshman who transferred from UC Irvine where she redshirted, are the primary players up front.

Taylor was second-team All-CIF at Santa Margarita High.

Christina Calcagno, a 6-0 freshman from Northern California, and Sarah Schmidt, a 5-10 freshman out of Edison, are additional weapons as the Pirates try to replace the potent combination of Ricks and Parks.

“Our weakness is physicality,” Thornton said. “Last year with Ricks and Parks, we were pretty physical inside.”

Last year’s Pirates, however, lacked the quickness and depth that this team possesses.

Those luxuries will allow Thornton to utilize pressure defense for 40 minutes.

“Our transition game should be much better, because we have people who can run and can score,” Thornton said. “And our perimeter shooting is good.”

The Pirates opened the season ranked No. 3 in Southern California (behind Pasadena and Mt. SAC), and No. 6 in the state in preseason coaches’ polls.

Thornton said he is anxious to see if his players can quickly match the intensity it takes to be successful at this level.

“We’re pretty cocky,” Thornton said. “These players were all all-league in high school. A lot of them knew each other and so our chemistry has really been good.”

Smith, Maulit and Kissee (whose high school grade-point average exceeded 4.0) are tri-captains.