Brea Olinda's Harris tries to keep living her dream

Kelsey Harris wanted to be a Ladycat ever since she was a little girl.

Harris grew up in Brea. She went to Country Hills Elementary School and Brea Junior High.

In the sixth grade she was a ball girl for the Brea Olinda girls basketball team. She watched Lauren Pedersen, Brittney Bies and Carrie Noyes lead the Ladycats to a CIF-SS championship, and Harris dreamed of doing the same when she got to high school.

"It's definitely an honor to play at Brea," said Harris, who will lead the Ladycats against Mater Dei on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the CIF Southern California Division 2 Regionals final at USC's Galen Center. "There are so many great people that have come before you, and you have to respect it. Hopefully, when you are a veteran, you've learned from it and it's your turn and hopefully you continue the tradition."

Click here for an inside look at the Brea Olinda-Mater Dei regional championship game.

Harris has done her part in carrying on the tradition. It is hard enough to make the varsity squad at Brea Olinda, but Harris has been a starter since her freshman year.

She has been to the CIF-SS finals three times, winning titles the past two seasons. During her freshman year she played alongside two-time Register player of the year Jeanette Pohlen and helped lead the Ladycats to the state finals.

"I wouldn't say it was intimidating, but was definitely a powerful thing because you are starting with Jeanette Pohlen who is going to Stanford," Harris said. "She was really good. She always made everyone on the team better. Just knowing how special it was, I just wanted to do well."

Throughout her decorated career she has earned a reputation as one of the top clutch shooters to play at Brea Olinda. She has a knack for hitting game-changing 3-pointers that get her team back into a game or bury an opponent.

"She's definitely one of the best clutch shooters I know," Brea Olinda point guard Alexis Perry said. "She's the type of player that always keeps the defense off-balance."

Harris had 22 points and made 6 of 10 shots from 3-point range in last year's CIF-SS Division 2AA title game against Thousand Oaks. She followed that up with a 25-point game, which included 4-of-5 shooting from behind the 3-point line, in last year's state championship game victory over Carondelet of Concord. She came through with a 23-point effort against Villa Park in this year's CIF-SS Division 2AA title game.

See the pattern? She seems to come through with her best performances when the pressure is on and the spotlight is the brightest.

"I like to be in that position," Harris said. "I've just been lucky to get the ball at the right time and it goes in. You gotta love it."

Harris will try to get her team back to the state championship title game for a second consecutive season when the Ladycats hook up with Mater Dei.

It's a rematch of last year's regional finals, where Brea Olinda beat the Monarchs, 44-38. Brea Olinda also beat Mater Dei, 47-43, in the Tony Matson Memorial Classic on Jan. 18. Mater Dei went into both of those matchups ranked No. 1 in the nation by ESPN.

"That was the game of the year last year," Harris said of last year's regional final against Mater Dei. "All year we prepared for them. They were always in the back of our minds. They had a lot of pressure going into it because they were undefeated, No. 1 in the nation and everything. We were more of the underdogs and we took it like we have nothing to lose."

County supremacy, state and national rankings will all be on the line when the Ladycats and Monarchs hook up this time.

"They've definitely been big games," Harris said of Mater Dei. "We're looking to go out and play hard and play every possession like it's our last."

The job will be a lot tougher for the Ladycats without Perry, who suffered a torn ACL in the regional quarterfinals March 11.

"It will be tough without her," Harris said. "You can't replace Lexi, but we're going to have to try if we want to win. I think everybody needs to pick up the slack. I'm definitely going to try and shoot whenever I'm open."

One thing's for sure: Count on another big game from Harris.

Follow Carlos Arias at twitter.com/losocvarsity.