Powers Get New Leaders : Girls’ basketball: Point Loma and Mount Carmel each get new coaches.

Although they seemed to make a habit in recent years of playing inside the Sports Arena come championship time, two of the county’s most successful programs will have a decidedly different look on the bench in 1990-91.

The programs are Point Loma and Mt. Carmel high schools. Each won its division title last year and has undergone major changes. Coaches Lee Trepanier and Peggy Brose are gone.

Trepanier, who has stomach cancer, retired last season after winning the Division II title, his sixth section title in seven years. He coached the Pointers--and standout Terri Mann--to four state championships from 1984-87.

Brose left Mt. Carmel after winning her second Division I title in three years, but her reason for leaving was much more pleasant. She is starting the program at Rancho Bernardo High, a new school that doesn’t yet have a gym or any seniors. But it does have a proven coach.

Shannon Anderson takes over for Trepanier, who still is a presence on the court.

“He’s helping me out a lot,” Anderson said. “I’m trying to learn as much as I can from him.”

There’s plenty to learn.

The Times’ girls’ basketball San Diego Section top 10:

1 MT. CARMEL

1989-90 Record: 23-6

League: Palomar

Coach: Tracey Johnson

New coach Tracey Johnson is getting her first chance at a varsity position after coaching Mt. Carmel’s junior varsity last year. Johnson’s burden is inheriting a full cupboard and trying to successfully defend the Sundevils’ Division I title. The key players are back, including Times all-county player Vicki de Jesus, who is one of the county’s best athletes and averaged 17 points per game, and junior center Kris Grazzini (6-2, 10 points, 10 rebounds). Senior forward Cyndi Payne (6-0) is the third returning starter. Jennifer Alley (5-9), Nicol Nicholas (6-0), Angie Cooper (5-9) and Melissa Durham (5-9) also return after contributing to last year’s championship team.

2 EL CAJON VALLEY

1989-90 Record: 21-6

League: Grossmont 2-A

Coach: Robert Holm

Leading scorer Debbie Duhany (21 points per game) graduated, but four starters. The team has added a transfer who could have a major effect. Back are senior guards Julie Woodley (5-4) and Sara Mease (5-4), senior forward Heidi Holm (6-0) and her sister, Heather, a 5-11 junior forward. Senior center Tracy Wilcox (6-0), a transfer from Paw Paw, Mich, averaged 19 rebounds last year. Her aggressive style fit in well with the team in summer league. She is the commodity the Braves have lacked. The team also is experienced--five players have been with the varsity for two years.

3 CASTLE PARK

1989-90 Record: 19-6

League: Metro

Coach: Chuck Mills

Christina Murguia would be reason enough to rank the Trojans in the top 10. Murguia, who signed a national letter of intent with San Diego State earlier this month, averaged 29.3 points and 17 rebounds per game last year, leading Castle Park to the Division II semifinals. Murguia also was the player of the year in the Metro Conference and a Times first team all-county selection. Add senior forward Erica Ockert (6-1), junior guard Autumn Bailey--both returning starters--and sophomore guard Dolores Odom, and the Trojans again have to be a Division II favorite. The key loss was point guard Debbie Davis (11.4 points per game).

4 SANTANA

1989-90 Record: 24-5

League: Grossmont 2-A

Coach: Wade Vickery

Senior point guard Desiree Weimann (5-4) and forward Stephanie Thompson (5-10), four-year starters and the nucleus of last year’s Division I runner-up team, each averaged 18 points per game. Another starter will be junior Erin Pope (5-10), up from the junior varsity. Time will be split among the other players, senior guard Ana Covarrubias (5-2) and junior guard Dawn Webber (5-2), both varsity returnees; 5-8 sophomore forwards Michelle Bass and Teresa Stippey; and two guards, sophomore Jenny Yoney (5-4) and freshman Cathy Bass (5-4), Michelle’s sister. Inexperience might slow the Sultans early this season.

5 POWAY

1989-90 Record: 21-5

League: Palomar

Coach: Jay Trousdale

Poway, which reached the section semifinals the past two years, returns just one starter, 6-0 Allison Brady, who averaged 10 points and six rebounds per game. The Titans will be big with sophomore Kristen Carlson (6-4), Kara Berg (6-1) and Brady forming a virtual skyline. Returning guard Stephanie Guerena should be a factor, but still is recuperating from knee surgery. Guards Jamie Shadian, a junior varsity star, and Julie Lunardi have been early surprises. Another player to watch is 5-8 senior forward Cynde Gruchala, who played varsity as a sophomore but did not participate last year. Gruchala is the Titans’ best defensive player.

6 FALLBROOK

1989-90 Record: 8-18

League: Palomar

Coach: Gerry Port

Last year, Coach Gerry Port said his young team would take its lumps, and he was right. Now he gets to see if the Warriors will reap the benefits. They are quick and they are experienced, returning eight players, including all five starters. Back are Jessica Paris (5-8), Marcia Jeffries (5-6, 9.5 points per game), Andrea Strategos (5-10, 7.5 rebounds), Becky Rayburn (5-11, 7.5 rebounds) and Cherie Jeffries (5-8). Added to the mix is a transfer Michelle Henricks (5-7), an all-league guard from Quartz Hill in Lancaster who already has emerged as a team leader.

7 GRANITE HILLS

1989-90 Record: 12-14

League: Grossmont 3-A

Coach: Len Klingshirn

The addition of point guard Christina Adams, who transfered from Grossmont, should give the Eagles a boost. Adams, who recently committed to play at UC Irvine next year, led the state last year with a 38.3 scoring average. She also set San Diego Section records for most free throws in season (254), most free throws in a game (28), most consecutive free throws in a game (28), highest career free-throw shooting percentage (71.0), most three-point baskets made in a season (100), most three-point baskets in a game (9), and most three-point shots attempted in a game (21). You get the idea.

8 POINT LOMA

1989-90 Record: 29-4

League: City Eastern

Coach: Shannon Anderson

First-year coach Shannon Anderson’s job wasn’t made any easier by the graduation of Tyeast Brown, Times Player of the Year, who averaged 23.5 points and 10.2 rebounds a game. To compensate for this loss, the Division II champion Pointers will spread their attack around, taking advantage of the talents of forward Jennifer Meeker, guard/forward Stacy Wainwright (12.5 points per game), and guard/forward Toi Ethridge, a strong defensive player. Meeker now is recovering from a sprained ankle, but is expected back in two or three weeks. The Pointers, despite rebuilding, should have plenty of depth and balance.

9 TORREY PINES

1989-90 Record: 16-9

League: Palomar

Coach: Ken Baumann

Torrey Pines has more depth this year than last, but the Falcons lost 6-2 center Karyn Armstrong (18 points per game, 13 rebounds), a high jumper devoting her time to track. Although left without a center and very little height, six players who started at one time or another return. Daphne Brownson (11 points per game), who has accepted a full scholarship to San Jose State, is joined by two other returning seniors, Allison Booth and Allyson Mizoguchi,a good defensive player whose shooting touch blossomed over the summer. They, along with sophomore three-point shooter Colleen Peck, are from the same mold, 5-9 guards.

10 MIRA MESA

1989-90 Record: 11-11

League: City Eastern

Coach: Gary Blevins

Forward Tyffanii Evans should be fun to watch. Coach Gary Blevins doesn’t think there’s anyone in the county who has a better vertical leap. A 5-9 forward, Evans is a skilled shooter, shot-blocker and, according to Blevins, is “kind of like a Point Loma girl.” Teaming with Evans is point guard Lani Elegado, a three-point shooting specialist who was ineligible much of last season, and center Jennifer Miner, a 6-foot sophomore who played on the varsity team as a freshman. The players are athletic and compose the best defensive team Blevins has had at Mira Mesa.