Second chances

Mike Sciacca

Everybody loves to get a second chance.

For the Edison High girls’ basketball team, tonight, as well as

the coming week, will offer up a couple of second chance situations.

The Chargers find themselves in a three-way tie for first place in

the Sunset League standings but will get the chance tonight to emerge

as a front-runner in the race for first-place when they host

Esperanza.

The game also affords Edison the chance to exact revenge against

the two-time defending league champion Aztecs who edged the Chargers,

39-36, back on Jan. 9 -- the opening night of the 2003 Sunset League

season.

The start of the second half of league play will officially tip

off tonight at 7 p.m.

“We’re excited to get another crack at Esperanza, and play them on

our home court, too,” Edison coach Corey Kelly said. “We have some

pretty good teams bunched up at the top of the league standings, and

this game will determine which of these two teams gains the upper

hand the rest of the season.”

Edison, Esperanza and Los Alamitos share the league lead, each

with a 4-1 record.

Esperanza and Los Alamitos were considered to be favorites for the

league crown before Sunset play began in early January, and Edison

was tabbed for third-place.

The Chargers have won four straight since dropping that first

meeting with Esperanza. The win streak includes a victory last

Saturday over Los Alamitos, which was the Griffins’ initial league

loss.

Edison, which has gone 15-5 overall against a difficult schedule,

has bolted to a share of the league lead by peaking “at the right

time,” said Kelly.

They’ve done it behind some outstanding play coming from sophomore

Rebecca Kepilino, junior point guard Valerie Katayama and senior

Leila Abufarie.

Kepilino averaged 15 points and seven rebounds per game before the

start of league play, but during the first half of the Sunset race,

she upped her averages to 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Katayama has been averaging nearly double figures in scoring and

Abufarie, a transfer from Ocean View, is getting back to her

“old-self” after sitting out a season while recovering from a knee

injury, Kelly said.

“We have had our struggles but our entire team is beginning to get

on the same page,” he said. “Rebecca is just a heck of a player. She

plays at every position at some point in every game and, from what

I’ve seen, I feel she’s one of the top sophomores in the state.

“Valerie is our captain and plays every minute of every game.

She’s not the biggest player out on the court but she’s probably the

toughest player on our team. And Leila, well, she’s battled through

her injury and has been big for us in league. She’s really stepped up

her game.”

Abufarie isn’t the only transfer whose services figure to give the

Edison lineup a potent infusion.

Another transfer waiting to get her chance to play is junior Eva

Camarena who comes to Edison from Westminster High.

Camarena played varsity ball as a freshman at Westminster and was

an all-league player. Due to certain circumstances, she ended up

quitting the team and had difficulties in school.

She ended up transferring to Edison and got a second chance when

she joined the Charger basketball family.

Camarena, who practices with the team and sits with the coaches on

the Edison bench on game night, was ineligible to play at the start

of the 2002-03 season. But last week marked the end of the semester

at Edison and Camarena, Kelly said, attained the grades needed to

gain her playing eligibility.

She can’t suit up until grades are officially recorded with the

Huntington Beach Union High School District, and that could come

sometime in the next 7-10 days. That means she could play in the

final three or four league games, as well as the postseason.

“I’ve very excited to get this chance,” she said. “A lot of people

doubted that I could become eligible to play, so I’m really proud of

my accomplishments. I want to help the team out any way I can, and

I’d like to be a part of a championship team.”

Kelly said that Camarena’s comeback extends beyond the basketball

court.

“I’m just so proud of her and the changes she has made in her

life,” he said. “I’m more happy for her in terms of the changes for

the better in both school and her personal life, in general. We took

her in and really helped her get things in order.

“The bonus is that Eva is a terrific basketball player who can

make great contributions to our team. She’s just happy to have this

chance, and so are we.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.