All in the family

Dedicated daughters thrive under dad's coaching guidance

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Those who know the La Rocque family will recognize the stereotypes -- Ally was always perceived as a ballerina, while her younger sister Lindy was thought of as a tomboy.

After watching the two sisters play basketball for Durango High School, it's clear the stereotypes do not apply, and in fact there is a lot of ballerina in Lindy and a great deal of tomboy in Ally.

Junior Ally and sophomore Lindy -- along with their father Al La Rocque, longtime Durango boys basketball coach and assistant coach for the girls' squad -- have helped 2004-05 Southwest Division Coach of the Year John Bartleson lead the Lady Trailblazers team to its best season ever, racking up a 22-4 record and a No. 3 ranking by the Las Vegas Review-Journal as of press time.

At first glance, 5-foot-9 Ally and 5-foot-8 Lindy may not appear to be your typical basketball players. But after watching them battle on the boards ferociously or run the floor gracefully, there's no doubt they know the game.

And they have the statistics to prove it. As a sophomore, Lindy, the co-MVP in the Southwest Division last season after averaging 19.3 points and 9.3 assists per game, was leading all Class 4A girls in scoring (21.8 points per game) as well as assists (8.7 assists per game) and was grabbing 5.4 rebounds per game. Her versatile style of play and ability to score and dish out assists from the point guard position has drawn comparisons to Magic Johnson.

Despite constantly having to guard bigger opposing players, Ally was the 10th-leading rebounder in the city, averaging 8.6 boards a game.

Although she's listed as a guard, Ally said she enjoys playing defense as a power forward under the basket.

"I think that's what makes it so much more fun, because I have to compete harder and play a position I don't usually play," she said.

"My sister is a warrior," Lindy said. "She may look like she (weighs) 10 pounds, but she's unbelievable. She does a lot of things that don't show up in the stats like defensive deflections and tips, and hustle plays like diving on the floor and stuff. She is very tough.

"That's just the way our dad brought us up to play. We play hard every time."

Hosting top-ranked Bishop Gorman (22-1, 9-0 Southwest Division) on Jan. 27, the sisters did everything humanly possible to beat their divisional rival. Lindy had 19 points and eight rebounds and Ally scored 13 points and also grabbed eight rebounds in the 68-59 loss against the Gaels, who have five players on their roster taller than the Trailblazers' tallest player, 5-foot-10 Erica O'Neill.

During the game, Ally, who took a hard shot in the stomach fighting for a rebound under the basket, spent almost as much time on the ground fighting for loose balls as she did on the court. Lindy took an elbow in the eye, earning her a nice shiner a couple of days later.

"We were definitely outmanned, physically," Lindy said. "We have good players and so do they. It's just that they're so much bigger. We gave it our best shot. Hopefully, we'll see them in a couple weeks or a month or so and beat them when it really counts."

Al La Rocque, whose name is synonymous with high school basketball in Las Vegas, said the game he loves so much just sort of grew on his daughters.

"They were just kind of raised in the gym," he said. "I never pushed it on them at all. They both played soccer. It's (basketball) just kind of what we do in our family. We would go on tournaments and travel around."

Al -- who confirmed the ballerina and tomboy stereotypes may have been true when his daughters were younger -- beamed when asked how proud he is of his daughters' accomplishments.

"I'm the proudest dad on earth. Everybody's proud of their kids," he said. "The best thing is they're both A students. And they always tease with their friends because my wife taught at (Sawyer) Middle School here and then I'm at the high school, so they've never gone to school where mom and dad haven't been looking over them."

Al, who has now been married to wife Beverly for 25 years, said Lindy, who practiced with his boys team over the summer to sharpen her game, is a truly unique player.

"The single biggest thing is that she understands basketball, and that sounds like a silly statement. But not very many boys understand basketball," he said. "They play but they don't understand. Lindy can see a pass before it's there, she can see a shot before it's there and that's really from being a coach's kid. She just understands."

He also said he loves how Ally has given the team whatever it needed from her in her three years on the varsity roster.

"As a freshman Ally was our leading scorer, averaging 17 points a game," he said. "I would tease her and say, 'Honey, somebody has to get the points on a bad team you know.' My point is she's a real good sport because she's our leading rebounder and she's a vital role player for us, and it's not that she's accepted that. It's that she's been a willing participant."

Nobody appreciates the recent success of Durango girls basketball more than Ally.

"My freshman year, I think we won five or six games," she said. "I remember in my first high school game we played Centennial and we lost by 77. And I remember thinking, 'If we ever beat Centennial by the time I graduate, I don't know what I'll do. That will be the highlight of my high school career.' And we got them.

"It's hard to believe that we won five games (two years ago) and now we've set the school record with 22 wins so far this year."

Lindy, recognized as one of the top players in Las Vegas despite being just a sophomore, said last year's addition of former New Mexico State University hoops star Bartleson as coach of the team has made a monumental difference.

"He's the key part to our team. He's (been) a college coach. He knows what it takes," Lindy said. Bartleson led Durango to a 19-9 mark in his first year at the helm last season. "And so he's never satisfied with anything, from me being a leader to our team being the best that we can be. He is always pushing us. So our success is because of him."

Al explained his role as an assistant coach for the team and his daughters.

"John is real qualified but it's nice to have somebody to bounce things off, you know? I have assistant coaches that I just rely on tremendously. And John knows what he's doing. I'm just there to be a sounding board," he said. "And I tell John all the time, 'They don't listen to me at home, they're not going to listen to me out here.'

"John's been very good about taking suggestions. But he makes all the decisions. The girls know that and I know that. I tell him all the time, 'I've coached for 30 years. I know what an able-bodied assistant is supposed to do and I can do it.' "

Ally said it has been special to have her dad as one of her coaches.

"I love it," she said. "He's like my inspiration for playing. He knows everything about it and he knows how to coach so well."

She also addressed the perception that she's more the artsy sister, while Lindy is seen as the jock.

"People say that because I always danced before I played basketball," Ally said. "I ended up quitting dance in sixth grade and really started concentrating on basketball. I love dance and I'm more of the girly-girl and Lindy is a little more of the tomboy, but we're also a lot alike and I have some tomboy in me when I play."

Watching her younger sibling get banged around on the court is all just a part of the game, Ally said, and she knows better than anyone how tough her little sister -- and best friend -- really is.

"It's a competitive sport. Everybody's going to get banged up. But she's tough and she's going to get through it and we both get through it," Ally said. "She's one of the toughest people I know."

Lindy echoed the sentiment, but said the toughness and hustle the two employ is more their individual style than something that evolved out of necessity.

"That's exactly how we both like to play," Lindy said. "We like to play like pit bulls and be all over the place."

Durango begins postseason play today when the Sunset Regional playoffs tip off. The girls regional championship game is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday at Sierra Vista High School, with the boys championship following at 7 p.m.