LJ g BB: Summer league

By Ed Piper

Darice Carnaje, La Jolla girls basketball coach, said her girls were anxious and ready to get out on the court.

Carnaje's teams, even when out-manned (womanned?), never quit and often rally toward the end of games that earlier seemed out of reach. That was the case in a spring/summer league game against Olympian Thurs., May 19, after the Vikings fell behind in the third quarter against more experienced players.

La Jolla only lost by a few points. There are several returnees from last year's varsity, along with some new faces who will see minutes this coming year.

What you look for in a spring or summer league is improvement--who has been practicing and pondering about basketball since last season? There is no shortcut to development. Time with the ball and on the court has no substitutes.

In that vein, Si Young Kim showed way more mobility on the court than I've ever seen before. Point guard Rebecca Saul, headed toward being a junior, has developed physically and is no longer the mighty mite she was a year and a half ago as a freshman.

My bad, but I don't know names of the new faces coming up from junior varsity as much as people more closely involved in the program. I asked Carnaje before the Olympian game (the Vikings also played Cathedral Catholic the same evening) for names. Her reply: "Anyone who is not on the varsity roster (from last season)."

The Vikings bring heart and scrappiness. You still want to see players who don't only dribble with their right hand. Rebecca found that out against better teams last year, and in the playoffs, when opponents pressured the backcourt to cough up turnovers.

Shooting guard Katrina Kurtchi took the ball to the hoop aggressively several times. Imani Trinidad-Gallagher showed enthusiasm. Kate Miller, who I remember playing in the Point Loma summer league three years ago, is going to be a senior.

The key, besides Carnaje's magic work to get the most and more out of her players, is how many minutes on the court can the girls compile to increase their comfort and confidence, as well as their basketball I.Q.