Local girl again proves to be a winner
By Wayne Harrison
Acorn Sports Writer

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn EAGLE SENSATION--Oak Park sophomore Jamie Rauchwarger helped the L.A. Maccabee team win a gold medal in Philadelphia. She also stars for the Eagles' CIF-championship basketball team.

Jamie Rauchwarger, who last winter as a freshman helped the Oak Park High School girls’ basketball team win its first-ever California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championship, recently played for the L.A. Maccabee team, again helping her team to a first-place finish.

Rauchwarger and her teammates swept through six games unbeaten to win the gold medal, which for the Oak Park sophomore was the second straight year she took home the gold in the 14-and-under age bracket.

In two years at the Maccabee games, Rauchwarger, who turns 15 in December, has won 12 games without a loss.

Rauchwarger said that winning the Maccabee games, an event that features that best Jewish athletes in the world, wasn’t quite as intense as preparing to win a CIF championship.

"A CIF title was, I think, actually a little harder to get," she said. "We worked from November to March, constantly—all through the season—running and practicing, with three-hour practices a day. We kept working.

"This (the Maccabee victory) was a little more laid back, but the feeling, I think, is still the same," Rauchwarger added.

In each case, players train hard to reach an objective that’s exhilarating to accomplish.

"You know that you worked really hard to achieve a goal, and when you accomplish your goal, it feels really good. We finally did what we came here to do. It’s kind of a different feeling winning CIF, but yet the same. One was a little bit harder to achieve."

Even harder to accomplish next basketball season at Oak Park will be a state championship, where the Eagles lost in the semifinals at the L.A. Forum last year, after winning the CIF crown at the Long Beach State Pyramid.

"When we lost that game at the Forum, it took a part of all of us," Rauchwarger said. "All the hard work that we put in had gone and it was all over."

With all but departing senior Kim Bryan back for this year’s campaign, Rauchwarger and her teammates have the lofty goal of making it to the Arco Arena. "Hopefully to go all the way to state," she said. "The loss of Kim Bryan this year is huge because she’s an excellent shooter, but I think if Shir (Raanan) and I step up, we can fill in for her and we’ll keep going as a team."

However far this year’s Oak Park team advances in the playoffs, Rauchwarger and the younger players will have to deal with the loss of three seniors next year, Michelle Bregar, Holly Stewart and Jannel Buckley.

"It’s going to be hard with them leaving because they’re an enormous impact on the court, and as a team, they’re our leaders. In a sense, they’re like mothers to the younger players and for Shir and I. We listen to them. So it’s going to be hard to lose them."

Rauchwarger and Raanan played a key role in last year’s championship, and having another player in her class—a sophomore this year—will help the continuity after Bregar, Stewart and Buckley graduate.

"It helped having another person about the same age last year," Rauchwarger said. "We had the same feelings going in: ‘Are they going to accept us?’ or ‘What’s going to happen?’"

Oak Park is on the basketball map now, and as Rauchwarger said, "Coming from a little town and then going so far, I think showed a lot of people that good things come in small packages."

With her and Raanan now accustomed to the play of the seniors, coach Lindsay Strothers’ team should be even tougher this season.

"Now we know when Michelle (Bregar) wants to drive or when Holly (Stewart) wants to hit the jump shot, and we’re reading what Jannel (Buckley) is going to do. We know exactly what each other is doing on the court," Rauchwarger said.

With three years left in high school, Rauchwarger still has time to improve and to dream.

"I’ve been playing since I was about 4 years old," she said. "And I hope to play until I’m about 84 and I’m too old to walk."

At 5-foot-6 and ½, she doesn’t count anything out. "I’d like to keep winning CIF in high school, then go on to play Division I college, and then possibly play professionally overseas. And then one day, maybe, possibly, if I keep on working—play in the WNBA."