POWER PLAYER—Royal High’s Destinee La Fountain, left, takea shot during practice. La Fountain is the team’s only senior. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspaper Destinee La Fountain is the toughest player in the Marmonte League.

Word of advice: Don’t challenge her to a fight, because she will accept.

The senior center for the Royal High girls’ basketball team leads the Highlanders in points, rebounds, blocks and field-goal percentage.

She also has a nasty uppercut.

La Fountain loves boxing, but she has trouble finding a sparring partner.

“No girl will box me,” La Fountain said. “Only the guys will box.”

The Royal senior said she has video of her beating up a 20-yearold male friend.

“We should put it up on YouTube,” she said with a mischievous smile.

La Fountain also enjoys playing football—she was Royal’s quarterback in the Powder Puff game against Simi Valley in November.

Destinee La Fountai She does most of her damage on the basketball court, however.

The captain and lone senior averages 13 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game for Royal, 9-5 overall and 1-1 in the Marmonte.

“She’s my role model,” said Heather Tomaszewski, the other captain. “We play the same position. Whenever she’s gone, it’s hard for me to step up. We rely on her.”

Junior point guard Kaity Lykins called La Fountain the team’s “backbone.”

“We depend on her a lot offensively and defensively,” Lykins said. “She brings a lot to the team.”

She might be the team’s best athlete, too.

“She can touch the rims on most days,” said Kinsley Mittel, Royal’s first-year head coach.

La Fountain has soft hands to catch entry passes, even errant ones, from the guards. Once she gets the ball, she can finish, especially on turnaround bank shots.

The 6-foot-2 center is a fierce defender who takes pride in denying players entry into the post, and blocking or altering shots in her vicinity.

She was named to the alltournament teams at the Valencia Hi 5 Classic and the Buena-Kiwanis Tournament earlier this season.

La Fountain—the team’s fastest player, according to Mittel— started playing basketball seriously in high school.

On her first day at Royal, La Fountain was approached by former coach Mike Kohl in class.

“He was writing on the overhead projector. He looked up and asked me, ‘Do you play basketball?’” La Fountain said. “I said no. He told me to go to the office and change my schedule right away. He said, ‘You’re playing on my team.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’”

Now the Highlander has a chance to play at the next level.

Vassar College in New York has offered her a scholarship while other schools have expressed interest.

La Fountain said she would like to study architecture.

The captain, whose sister Nicole is a sophomore on the junior varsity squad, said she has improved through practice and the tutelage from her coaches.

“You can’t play by yourself, and without a coach, you’d be fooling around,” La Fountain said. “Now we’re getting it down. We’re working together as a team and we’re getting wins.”

Already a dominant force in the middle, La Fountain can still improve.

“I would love to see her develop footwork and more post moves,” said Mittel, a 2003 Royal graduate who was an AllMarmonte and All-CIF point guard.

“I’d love to see her develop her skills.”

La Fountain and the Highlanders have responded well to Mittel’s new offensive schemes. Royal runs a motion offense with screens and plenty of options.

Its press break will be instrumental against league favorite Agoura. The Highlanders and Chargers meet for the first time at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Royal.

La Fountain has had plenty of help from teammates.

Chelsea Jacoby, Aubree Mittel and Lykins patrol the backcourt. Guard Ali Mosier is a standout defender, while Katelyn Tollefson offers depth at the position.

Freshman Sabrina Wiseman hopes to return soon from a shoulder injury.

Lykins is a strong all-around player who averages 8.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. Mittel (9.9 points) and Jacoby (8.9 points) are also offensive threats.

In the frontcourt, Gabbi King, Adrianne Sloboh and Tomaszewski contribute. King notches 12.8 points per game.

La Fountain wants the Highlanders to continue their strong run. She’d like to hone her skills along the way.

Could she potentially develop 3-point range?

“I was wide open for a 3 the other day,” La Fountain said. “I thought about shooting it for a second, but (Mittel) wouldn’t let me. No post players shoot 3’s. She needs us to rebound.

“I have to make one 3-pointer before the season ends.”

What player could stand in her way?