By Vincent Liu

Town Crier Correspondent

Sarah Feely’s selection as the 2001-02 girls basketball MVP of both the Private Schools Athletic League and the Central Coast Section last winter wasn’t surprising.

After all, Feely - who just graduated from Pinewood School - had previously been named the CCS Player of the Year for her class as a freshman, sophomore and junior.

Also not surprising: Feely was offered a basketball scholarship from an NCAA Division I college prior to her senior year.

After all, the point guard had been tracked by University of the Pacific since her freshman year.

Feely’s omission from the recent Parade Magazine’s All-America Girls High School Basketball Team, however, is somewhat surprising.

While picking the best players from thousands of high schools across the nation is a daunting task, Feely’s coach isn’t giving Parade any slack for bypassing his prized player.

“It was probably chosen by people who may not know basketball,” Doc Scheppler said.

Scheppler, with 25 years of coaching experience, knows basketball. The 2001 CCS girls basketball coach of the year cited over-emphasis on scoring as the basic reason for the slight.

“As terrific a player as she is,” Scheppler said, “Sarah is not a high scorer.”

What the 5-foot-8 Feely brings to the court are talents Scheppler likens to those of NBA superstar Jason Kidd: stellar ball-handling skills and the keen ability to be an on-court general.

Oh, and she can defend and pass, too.

“Sarah is a great on-ball defender and the best passer I’ve ever coached at Pinewood,” said Scheppler who enters his eighth year at Pinewood with an impressive 192-25 record. “What distinguishes Sarah is her basketball instinct and uncanny ability to spot her open teammates and make the pass to the one in the best position to score.”

Indeed, Feely averaged nearly eight assists per game during her high school career and is Pinewood’s all-time assist leader.

“Eight assists may not sound like much, but when you consider there is only 32 minutes in a high school game, that’s impressive,” Scheppler said.

In this year’s league title-deciding game against Redwood Christian, Feely dished out a school-record 15 assists.

Despite her on-court mentality to pass first and shoot second, Feely’s scoring average of 11.8 points per game over four years is nothing to scoff at. Perhaps her most memorable basket took place Feb. 2 when the Panthers battled Marin Catholic for the top ranking in the CCS.

After blowing a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter and falling behind by a point, Pinewood appeared headed for a painful defeat. Then Feely drained a three-point bomb some five feet behind the arc with 58 seconds to go. That’s NBA territory, where most high schoolers fear to tread. Feely didn’t hesitate a moment when she found herself open.

“The shot was there and I took it,” she said of a hoop that propelled Pinewood to victory.

Scheppler called it “The shot of the year.”

The game against Marin Catholic, called one of the greatest high school games ever by some observers, should have established Feely as a legitimate candidate for All-American honors. She outplayed Marin Catholic’s Brooke Smith, a high-scoring 6-3 center headed to Duke University who went on the make the Parade All-America Team

“I’m sure Smith is deserving of her All-American honors, but I’d put Sarah right up there with anybody in high school,” Scheppler said.

Feely has learned to take such disappointment in stride.

For the third consecutive year, her team lost in the NorCal finals, the last two in Division II. Even though Pinewood is a Division V school due to its tiny student body, it decided to “play up” after winning the Division V state title in 1999 and losing in the NorCal final in 2000.

Opting to play better competition is a decision that’s drawn no regrets from the players, yet last year’s loss in the NorCal title game was hard on them.

“It was a dominating season for us and we had one bad game all season,” said Feely, referring to the heart-breaking loss to Amador Valley in the final.

While Pinewood this year suffered another season-ending loss in the NorCal final - this time to St. Mary’s of Stockton - Feely is satisfied her team made a strong showing after trailing by 17 points at the half. She had 11 assists and directed a furious fourth-quarter comeback.

“This time I focused on the overall success of our season,” she said. “There was never an openly stated goal to win it all this year; all we were trying to do was to play the best we could and have fun.”

Feely’s ability to put life in proper perspective is a far cry from her childhood days when she had so much energy it bordered on hyperactivity. Unlike most kids, she could not sit still in front of the TV.

“Everything with her was a physical contest, whether it was a board game or ball game,” her mother Risa said. “Sarah is the most active and competitive person I’ve ever encountered.”

To channel their daughter’s abundant energy, Risa and Ted Feely signed Feely up for soccer, basketball, tennis and baseball. Soccer was her early favorite, followed by basketball.

“There were times when Sarah insisted on playing back-to-back games between the two sports, and I had to change uniforms on her in the car between games,” Risa said.

When she was 9, Feely decided to focus on basketball and set her sights on playing college ball, a goal she will realize this fall at UOP. Her decision was influenced by the Stanford women’s basketball team she followed, and patterns her game after former Cardinal stars Kate Starbird and Jamila Wideman.

Feely was drawn to Pinewood by Scheppler’s reputation as someone who teaches individual basketball skills.

“Doc is an amazing coach, instructive, knowledgeable and a great motivator,” she said. “In pressure situations, he would not instill fear but try to relax the players.”

Scheppler had more kind words for Feely as well, calling her “very coachable, very unselfish, hard working, a willing learner and the nicest person you will meet in life.”