THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS WOW! BRYANT, HAMILTON REKINDLE PREP RIVALRY ON BASKETBALL'S BIGGEST STAGE.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

Kobe Bryant took possession of the ball in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter Tuesday night and looked into the eyes of Richard Hamilton, the NBA player he knows better than any other.

There they were again, Kobe and Rip, adding another chapter to their personal history together, which dates 10 years to the high school gymnasiums of suburban Philadelphia. As he did all three times in their head-to-head prep meetings, Bryant prevailed Tuesday, making a 3-pointer over Hamilton's outstretched hand to send Game 2 of the NBA Finals to overtime, and the Lakers went on to easily beat Hamilton's Detroit Pistons.

Bryant made the big shot, as he has so many times during his career, and Los Angeles celebrated. But watching from a few thousand miles away, Sam Rines saw something few others could have noticed.

``When Kobe hit that shot over Rip, I could see that look on his face and the way he pounded his chest, and that was all because of Rip,'' said Rines, who coached both players for two years on a Philadelphia-based AAU team. ``It was like Kobe was saying, 'I know Rip, and I will not let Rip outplay me.'

``I've seen Kobe contest people's shots and play hard against people, but I've never seen him go after somebody the way he goes after Rip. That's because Kobe knows him so well.''

As teenagers, Bryant and Hamilton were prep rivals, but at other times they wore the same uniform, that of the Sam Rines All-Stars. Bryant became associated with Rines' club program during his freshman year of high school, soon after his family moved back from Italy, and a year later, Hamilton came aboard. They became good friends and even roommates when the team traveled to tournaments.

``It was a lot of fun,'' Bryant said. ``We enjoyed each other's company. We were really close. You know, he's a great guy. We had a great time playing together. Our team won almost every tournament we had. It was myself, Rip, and we had a whole bunch of shooters around us. You know, we were just going around AAU camps and kicking butt. It was fun.''

Bryant had the pedigree, the hype, the confidence and an amazing amount of potential. But Rines saw something special in Hamilton, a kid from a modest background whom Rines said honed his game on the streets while Bryant practiced against professional players his father, Joe, knew from his NBA days.

As Rines remembers, the more laid-back Hamilton stepped back and let Bryant be the team leader and receive the accolades, but that didn't mean Hamilton was an inferior player. Just the opposite, actually.

``I'll be 100 percent honest,'' Rines said. ``I think Rip was much more of a complete high school player than Kobe. Maybe not a better player, but a more complete player.

``Kobe was on the verge of greatness, but Richie was almost flawless. We would have to tell Kobe, 'Make that pass. Don't kick the ball out of bounds off your foot. Don't shoot too much,' but not Richie. Kobe was determined to be great, and he worked. I don't think Richie worked quite as hard as Kobe. Richie always took a back seat to Kobe because he just wasn't as aggressive.''

Bryant and Hamilton were teammates under Rines, but they were rivals in high school. Bryant attended Lower Merion, an upscale private school, and, 25 miles to the west, Hamilton attended Coatesville High in a city that had fallen from its glory days when the local economy was based around the steel industry.

Coatesville still had a thriving prep basketball program, however, and Hamilton's teams had three classic showdowns with Bryant's Lower Merion teams, but Coatesville never won.

The first meeting came in their junior year, March 1, 1995, in a district semifinal playoff game. Coatesville held Bryant to 10 points in the first half, and he got in foul trouble in the second half. Coatesville led by 10 points in the second half, but Hamilton fouled out, Bryant returned and Lower Merion won 72-65. Bryant finished with a game-high 26 points, and Hamilton scored 22.

They met again the following January as seniors in a regular-season game. Bryant scored 35 points, Hamilton scored 32 and Lower Merion won 78-77 in overtime.

That was Coatesville's only regular-season loss. The teams met again just more than a month later at the Palestra, the famous Philadelphia arena, in the district championship game.

Behind Hamilton's 16 points and 13 rebounds, Coatesville led by six with three minutes remaining, but Lower Merion rallied to win 70-65. Bryant finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks for Lower Merion, which went on to win its first state championship in 42 years.

The players parted ways - Bryant to the NBA and Hamilton to the University of Connecticut - but remained friends. Hamilton said he sought Bryant's counsel before his NBA rookie season and seems to be over his high school losses to Lower Merion.

``We had so many great times and great talks in the (hotel) room before AAU games, and challenges,'' Hamilton said. ``We used to be in the room sometimes and I used to tell him, 'Before practice we're going to go one-on-one so I can go at you.' And he would tell me, 'Rip, you can't beat me,' and I would tell him, 'You can't beat me.'

``We have a lot of stories. We were kids and we liked to challenge each other. I think we liked to push each other a whole lot, traveling together and playing on the same team. I learned so much from him, and he probably learned some things from me, but we were just kids and we were having fun with it.''

Rines, now 36, has kept in touch with both of his former pupils over the years. He watches these NBA Finals with pride and with the belief that both players will thrive in the NBA for years to come.

``Richie, to me, is just coming into his own,'' Rines said. ``It's not fair to compare them right now because Richie took the long way and he has a gap to close, but I believe he will close it. The thing about the two of them is that Kobe has probably reached 75 percent of his potential, but I think Richie is probably only to the 50-percent mark.

``We can see a lot more out of Richie. He had to work his way up by playing on the streets and in college. Kobe was born and raised for the hype.''

- Neil Geoghegan contributed to this story.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 4 -- color) Kobe Bryant, left, helped lead his Lower Merion High team to three victories in three games against Richard Hamilton's Coatesville team. The rivals, who became friends in two seasons as AAU teammates, are going against each other again in the NBA Finals.

Photos by Daily Local News, Westchester (Pa.)

Edna T. Simpson/Daily News

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(5) Kobe Bryant had the upper hand on Richard Hamilton when they were high school rivals.

Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer