The Hall of Famer

On Orange Lutheran’s campus, Nancy Paul has an office.

Then, she has a room.

This room isn’t big, but it’s big enough. The walls are lined with shelves, shelves that are lined with boxes, boxes that are marked with one name and different numbers.

Nancy Paul, Box 1. Nancy Paul, Box 2. And so on.

The number of boxes enters the 60s.

While chatting with visitors in her office, Ms. Paul often stops the conversation to visit her room. Upon her return, she’s accompanied by some form of Orange Lutheran relic, dating back to the school’s inaugural years.

Very little Lancer history escapes Ms. Paul’s grasp or her memory. So when she was inducted into the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame this year, for her service to prep sports over her 40-year OLu career, memories began to surface.

Here are five that Ms. Paul says stand out in her mind about the history of Orange Lutheran basketball, milestones that changed the boys and girls programs forever:

1978: Boys basketball is CIF-SS Small Schools runner up.

This was the first time that the boys basketball program made it to a CIF championship game, under head coach Jerry Simmons. The Lancers lost to Pasadena Poly by 10 points at Long Beach Convention Center, but it was a milestone in Orange Lutheran basketball history. “It was so exciting for us because we were not that big of a school, to be playing a perennial powerhouse like Pasadena Poly. It was certainly not their first time.” At the time, Ms. Paul was teaching and coaching girls junior varsity basketball, as well as working with Bob Dowding in the athletic department.

1981: Girls basketball defeats Rosamond High to win CIF-SS Small Schools title.

The Lancers, playing at Antelope Valley JC, came from behind to win, 43-42, capturing their first CIF title. “That year, the girls cut the nets down. They each took a piece of the net for themselves, but on the other end of the court, Beverly Arnett (the Lancers’ head coach) cut down the entire net and said, ‘Nancy, why don’t you hold onto this.’” Ms. Paul still has the net to this day. At the time, Ms. Paul was coaching girls junior varsity basketball and doing athletic administration for girls sports. She even remembers who rode the bus to the girls varsity basketball games that year. “Coach Arnett liked to keep a small circle around the team. The only people on the bus, aside from Coach Arnett and the players, were me, the school nurse Verna Thome (mother of freshman baseball coach Dan Thome), school administrator Bill Balke, bus driver Deanna Scott (the mother of current Orange Lutheran maintenance manager Kent Scott ‘83), and Emily Wolfe (Kent Scott’s grandmother).”

1989: Boys basketball makes unlikely run to CIF-SS finals.

The Lancers, coached by Jerry Simmons, took on Santa Clara Boys at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in the CIF-SS title game. Orange Lutheran came up short, but in Ms. Paul’s eyes, it was a remarkable run for the simple fact that the team was completely comprised of local kids. “We were still just a little school. Back then, kids didn’t play AAU basketball. All of our kids came from the Lutheran system. The school was really just getting started. People today don’t realize, we haven’t always been this size and we haven’t always gotten kids from different places. That year was significant to me because the composition of the student body was so homegrown.” At the time, Ms. Paul was teaching and shared athletic director responsibilites with Bob Dowding. “Bob and I would literally sit down and divide our duties. That’s why he was such a dear friend. We could always just sit down together and figure things out.” Coach Dowding passed away in February of this year.

2000: The arrival of Tony Matson.

In 2000, Tony Matson arrived at Orange Lutheran to take over the girls basketball program. He was previously an assistant at Brea Olinda High School, a powerhouse program in Southern California. “Tony really took our girls program to a new level.” Tony coached at OLu from 2000-2009, before passing away in April of 2009. During his time at OLu, he led the Lancers to five league titles, and in 2009, he took Orange Lutheran to its first CIF-SS finals appearance since 1981. “He was a true man of God and a great family man. And Tom Howard has made sure that Tony’s legacy has continued, with the Tony Matson Memorial Classic. Coaches that come to play in the Classic are people that knew Tony and were friends of his. Tony dearly loved his girls and was the spark in their life in terms of athletics.” Tony’s youngest daughter, Jessi, is currently a junior at Orange Lutheran. She helped lead the Lancers to the CIF-SS Div. 3 title last season. “I look at her and think to myself all the time, her dad would have been so proud of her.”

Jessi Matson '17, the youngest daughter of the late Tony Matson, helped lead the girls basketball team to a CIF title in 2014-15.

2011: Boys and girls basketball capture CIF titles.

Both the Lancer boys and girls played in CIF title games at the Anaheim Convention Center in 2011. The games were played back to back, and both ended in victory for Orange Lutheran. “The girls beat Bonita and the boys beat Windward, and people were able to come and stay for both games. It was a great scene.” After that championship, girls coach Tom Howard and boys coach Chris Nordstrom gave Ms. Paul a photo collage with pictures from both championship celebrations. The collage is in her room and she shows it to visitors today.

What’s telling about the selection of the boys and girls CIF title victories in 2011, and of all Ms. Paul’s selections, is that none of them involve her.

In 2011, there was a tremendous amount of recognition given to Ms. Paul in honor of her career. In that one year, she saw her name inscribed on the Orange Lutheran court, she was inducted into the Orange Lutheran Athletics Hall of Fame, she was awarded the Cristo Mundo Award from Concordia University, Irvine, and she was recognized by State Senator Ed Royce and the City of Orange for her service to the community, among other accolades.

Still, the moments that stand out most in her mind involve the successes of students. And those successes didn’t always mean championships. It meant helping Orange Lutheran take a step towards being the school it is today.

In her over four decades at OLu, Ms. Paul has played the roles of athletic director, teacher, scorekeeper, confidant, and many more.

But most importantly, at least in her eyes, she’s been a vessel.

"I am only a servant in His service."