CHULA VISTACHULA VISTA — Brandon Alvarado and Earl Wilson were close friends when they played for Marian Catholic High in 2005.
The friendship continued after high school and now the two dads can be found in the bleachers of every game their daughters, senior Alyssa Alvarado and junior Mahliya Wilson, play for Bonita Vista High.
The two guards have helped the Barons to a 12-7 record, losing only to Westview in the season-opener and to No. 1 La Jolla Country Day against section opponents.
For a while the two girls had almost identical scoring averages, but a recent surge has moved Alyssa to No. 1 on the team at 16.4 and Mahliya No. 2 at 14.9.
While both dads were right at 6-feet, the girls are entirely different players.
At 5-foot-8, Mahliya is more of an inside threat, while the 5-4 Alyssa is the team’s primary 3-point shooter, having drilled 11 in a game once and 10 twice.
But, almost like twins, they are always cognizant of where the other player is and neither hesitates to get the ball to the other when they’re open.
“We’re very, very close,” Alyssa said. “It’s like we’re sisters.
“We’ve been playing together a long time — since I was 7 – and we got super close at Bonita Vista Middle School. I was a better player until I went to high school. Mahliya really picked up her game so that when she came to Bonita Vista, she was actually better than I was.
“Now it’s whoever’s open gets the ball, we’re even. She’s an attacker, and I’m a shooter.”
Mahliya agrees.
“When I have an open 3-point shot, sometimes I’ll take it,” she said, “and I can make them. But (Alyssa’s) a knock-down outside shooter. I’m more of an inside threat.”
She’s a true point guard in that she brings up the ball, but she naturally gravitates to the middle where she can put up the shot with either hand.
The dads have played an important role in the girls’ success, actually starting an AAU team, , the Lady Panthers, when the girls were 8-year-olds.
“We were good, really good,” Brandon Alvarado said. “We didn’t lose a game against teams in our age group and only lost when we played up. Earl and I coached them until the sixth grade, and when we realized they would get better coaching if they joined a club, we went to EBO.
“Tristan Lamb was the coach, so when it came time to decide where the girls would go to high school, they just stayed with their coach.”
It wasn’t quite as easy as that since the dads had attended a private Catholic school, Marian, and if the girls had followed, they would have gone to Mater Dei Catholic, a Metro Mesa rival. They almost did.
“When we were in the seventh grade, we played with Chaos, which is like a feeder program to Mater Dei Catholic,” Alyssa said. “It was nice, but we also enjoyed playing with EBO, so it wasn’t a difficult decision.”
Brandon and Earl weren’t as close as the girls. In fact, Brandon played for St. Augustine until his junior season, and after Marian Catholic beat the Saints in the playoffs, he decided to go back with his friend.
The two girls spend practically every day together, and Mahliya said playing versus Mater Dei Catholic on Wednesday night was interesting.
“It’s like we’re playing versus Marian Catholic where our dads went,” she said before the game, which the Barons won handily, 83-42. Allysa surpassed 1,000 career points with 22, and Mahliya collected 25. “We know our dads will be cheering for us, but we have friends at Mater Dei Catholic, too.”
The choice four years ago wasn’t difficult for the dads.
“We kind of left the decision which school they’d attend up to the girls,” Brandon said. “They had options and that was good. Now we just attend every game, home or away.”
Earl said the dads made sure the girls were grounded in the basics.
“Those two are so similar to Brandon and me it brings chills,” Earl Wilson said. “We taught them the basics to get them going, just to see if they liked it. They did.”
Brandon agreed. “After the sixth grade we just made sure they were around the right coaches,” he said. “But there are similarities, that’s for sure.”
When Brandon went to Marian, he said Earl was at his house almost every day. Now the same thing is happening with the girls.
Still, the dads are important.
“My dad is like a second coach,” Alyssa said. “He’s the person who made me the player I am today. Even now after the game we go over and talk about what I could have done better. When we go train, we work on those things.
“I know I can do better, and the drive I have to get better comes from him.
“As for the future, I guess we’ll see. I believe I’m more of a Division II college player while Mahliya is looking at Division I. I believe in academics first, and I know that if I go Division II, I’ll get to play more. But who knows, maybe we will end up at the same college.”
Steve Brand is a freelance writer.
