LJ g BB: Sina's sister

By Ed Piper

Coach Darice Carnaje had a fascinating tale to tell about the sister of Viking basketball player Sina Anae, who she coached against, before one of La Jolla's recent summer league games.

Carnaje, coach for several years at Our Lady of Peace (OLP) before coming to La Jolla two years ago, was in a reflective mood as Anae showed up to warm up for the Vikings' game against Imperial July 6.

"OLP defeated Cathedral Catholic with Wendy Anae for the CIF title," the coach recounted. Wendy, Sina's older sister, is now entering her fifth year of a full-ride basketball scholarship at the University of Utah, where she will play as a so-called "redshirt" senior. She had to sit out last year with an injury.

"That was a fun season," said Carnaje, warming to her subject, "because who got seeded ahead determined the playoff brackets. We (OLP and Wendy's Cathedral coach) flipped a coin for number-one seed, because the two teams split their games during the season. Wendy is about 6'2". She was good.

"When I saw Sina (three years ago) when she came to OLP (where Carnaje was then coaching) with the La Jolla JV's, I said, 'Wow, they have some athletic ability.'

"Wendy got in foul trouble. That's how we won. We had Kirsten Johnson, a rebounder and inside player. Wendy could shoot from outside. I didn't put Kirsten on Wendy, because I didn't want her to get in foul trouble." OLP won the title. That was 2013.

Sina's mother agreed. Keeping score up in the stands during La Jolla's summer league game, she was with the girls' father, Bill. Mom nodded, yes, Wendy getting into foul trouble was a key part of that championship game between OLP and Cathedral. As a result of her fouls, Wendy Anae had to sit out significant portions of the game. Her team lost without her playing her usual dominant role on the floor.

Besides Carnaje's narration of that title game, we also learned that Sina's full name, "Saumasina", means "Coming moon" or "the moon coming": "sau" means "come" in Samoan, and "masina" means "moon". There you have it.