2008-09 Girls Basketball Player of the Year: Foothill's Marinacci

Christina Marinacci entered high school with huge expectations.

She was being compared to former Foothill superstar Kristen Mann, who went on to play at UC Santa Barbara and in the WNBA.

Every day she walked into Foothill's gym, Mann's retired jersey stared down at her from the walls.

Marinacci more than lived up to all the hype, breaking Mann's school records for career scoring and rebounding and doing something that Mann never did by leading her team to four consecutive Sea View League titles and a CIF-SS Division III-A championship. The McDonald's All-America selection also helped the Knights to a 30-2 record, which is a school record for victories.

"It's always hard when people are talking about how good somebody is supposed to be and what they should accomplish in their career," Marinacci said. "I just tried to not listen to it and not really let it get to me.

"I just focused on what my coaches were asking me to do and what my team needed from me. I didn't focus on I averaged this many points last year and now I have to average this many more. That was not what was going to win us games."

It was that unselfish nature and ability to make her teammates better that made her one of the county's all-time greats. Marinacci, a three-time league MVP, has been a mainstay on the All-County team since her freshman season and she is OCVarsity.com's 2008-09 girls basketball player of the year.

Foothill coach Bill Seibert paid Marinacci the ultimate compliment when describing how much she will be missed when she graduates.

"Her parents are great people," Seibert said. "They kept her down to earth. With all the awards she's won through her high school career, you would think she would be a big-headed-type player.

"But when little girls would come to the games, she would sign the programs for them. She is a person that younger kids can look up to. She sets a great example. If I had a daughter, that's the way I would want her to be. I would want her to be like Christina."

Marinacci was offered scholarships from many of the top programs in the nation, and she ended up choosing USC because of the academics, the Pac-10 and its proximity to home, so her parents can see all her games and she can still go back home for visits.

But the toughest part about her high school career coming to an end is she will no longer be teammates with her best friend,Blair Shinoda, who signed with UC Davis.

Marinacci and Shinoda have known each other since they were born. Their dads, Mike Marinacci and Doug Shinoda, were teammates at Foothill where they helped the Knights win a league championship in boys basketball in the late 1970s. Christina and Blair have been playing on the same teams since the second grade.

"It's going to be really weird not playing with her next year," Marinacci said. "That was what was the most heartbreaking for me when we lost in state was knowing that her and I will never play on a team again. I mean, we'll play pickup and stuff, but we'll never play competitive basketball on the same team again.

"It's heartbreaking because it's been such a long journey. We just play so well together. She's my best friend. Knowing that time in our lives is over is very sad. But we had a really good run, and I couldn't have been anywhere that I am today without her."

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com