Two former Acorns have had their chance to shine for the Gavilan
women
’s basketball team this year.
Two former Acorns have had their chance to shine for the Gavilan women’s basketball team this year.
Freshman Andrea Lupina and sophomore Kristen Rennard have worked hard to get to where they are at.
Lupina, a left-handed shooter, has moved into the starting rotation for the Rams.
“She is a good shooter and has a nice little drive occasionally,” said coach Michelle Mannisto. “She is learning the defensive game. She didn’t have the playing time she needed at Live Oak. She is learning a lot.”
Lupina, who graduated from Live Oak last year, has started more than half of Gavilan’s games, Mannisto said.
“She is learning the game; she just needs more time on the floor,” Mannisto said. “It is like starting from scratch on the defensive end. She is locked in to just playing her man, but she is learning how to play team defense.”
Rennard, who went to Cabrilo College for a year and then sat out to work, has given the Rams a strong defensive effort in her first year playing basketball.
“She has never played the game of basketball before ever,” Mannisto said. “I am really pleased with her. She has really learned a lot. She gets after it. She tries really hard, and she has come along way. She has finally started to get positioning on rebounding. She is still about half a second or a second late. But when she first started she wasn’t even getting position. She is real close to doing a really good job on the boards for us.”
“Defensively, she works real hard,” Mannisto added. “She has a good shot too. I taught her from scratch. The only thing she is lacking is experience on the floor in the flow – the approach to the shot. That is just going to come with time.”
Rennard, a 1996 Live Oak grad, is a converted softball player who played for Gavilan last year and on Live Oak’s CCS Division 1 championship team.
“I played softball my whole life,” Rennard said. “It is my first love. I’m starting to really enjoy playing basketball more. When you are on the court it is all about feeling it. It is not an easy game to learn. Sometimes it is not fun because I really have to concentrate.”
The two sports a much different,” Rennard said.
“It means longer hours, and it is a whole different sport,” Rennard said. “I am learning a lot. Nothing compares to playing a the college level. Its a whole different level – much more intense.”
With just nine players on the roster and a couple injured, Mannisto said it is important for each player to step up her game.
“That is why I wanted to get Amber (Hall) to come to play over here,” said Mannisto about last year’s 6-foot-2 Live Oak grad who chose to go to De Anza. “We could have used her. She would have been in high high figures for us. She would be really doing it up because she would have more playing time than DeAnza.”
“She would probably play 40 minutes here and maybe be one of the leading scorers in the state,” Mannisto added. “That is the advantage of coming to Gavilan as opposed to one of the bigger schools. You are going to play if you are any type of player. You get more looks that way.”
Although the Rams have not won many games this year, Mannisto said the team should have enough to get into the playoffs.
“We should be able to make the playoffs,” Mannisto said. “What it amounts too is who you play. Our rating will be pretty high. If we can come close to ten wins, I think we will make it.”
