Tara McLean-Emery had been there before. At the time, the senior was the rebound leader and second-leading scorer for the No. 4 nationally ranked Buena High girls basketball program. Pressure games. White knuckle moments.
McLean-Emery had been on the court for Buena’s 1983 Division state title win Sacramento U.S. Grant. For her role in the Bulldogs’; run to the 1984 CIF-Southern Section Division 4A championship, McLean would receive first-team all-CIF honors.
Weeks later Buena’s chance for a repeat Division I state championship was teetering. Unbeaten Buena trailed once-beaten Los Gatos in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Time for a McLean-Emery moment. Assists by Lee Brock set McLean-Emery to hit field goals with 6:28 and 3:12 remaining as Buena scored 12 unanswered points. The perfect end to a perfect season for Buena (31-0).
In McLean-Emery’s three seasons, Buena would finish 78-7.
She would play two seasons with the Ventura College, earning player of the year and first-team All- Western State Conference honors and all-state. As a sophomore, McLean-Emery was the Ventura College Female Athlete of the Year. She then went on to attend Oregon State on a basketball scholarship.
She returned to Ventura College in 1995 as a kinesiology instructor and assistant with the women’s basketball program, helping the Pirates to four state championships – two teams were undefeated and one back-to-back title runs – during her six-year tenure.
Taking up tennis in 1996, McLean-Emery won three straight county open singles titles. She joined the Ventura College women’s tennis team. As the No. 1 singles player, McLean-Emery helped Ventura College win the Western State Conference team title. McLean-Emery was inducted into the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.
McLean-Emery and husband Nelson Emery are the parents of daughters Caisey Lee and Colbey Shae plus son Cody Ray.