Christina Marinacci grew up playing softball, soccer, volleyball and basketball.

She was a star player in every sport, but she eventually settled on basketball and volleyball.

"Softball was kind of slow for me," Marinacci said. "I probably played that the longest. I think I played that for like seven years. It just got to the point where I didn't find it fun any more, and the same with soccer. I had been playing those sports since I was like 6 (years old).

"Basketball was just my passion. It's a fast game and there are just many more different aspects that I could work on. I just had more fun with the sport. It was the same with volleyball. It's a quick sport and it's just fun to get up and hit the ball. It's the same thing with basketball. You can shoot the 3, you can dribble drive, there are just more aspects to the game."

There were huge expectations for her when she came to Foothill as a freshman. County basketball insiders were comparing her to Kristen Mann, a former Foothill star who went on to play at UC Santa Barbara and in the WNBA.

Many players would be overwhelmed by all those enormous expectations, but Marinacci thrived and got better with each season.

She broke most of the school's records, including scoring and rebounding, and she did something Mann never did by leading her team to a CIF-SS Division III-A championship in her senior season.

She was a four-time All-State and All-County selection. She was a McDonalds All-American and The Register's Girls Basketball Player of the Year this past season. Marinacci can add one more honor to her career because she is the Orange County Register's 2008-09 girls athlete of the year.

"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."

Marinacci also continued playing volleyball in high school and was a four-year starter on the Knights varsity team.

"We were actually pretty bad," Marinacci said. "I think we were 1-9 in league. We were a young team and all the girls quit my last year. I was one of the few seniors that came back. It was just a mess, but it was OK. I love the sport, so I just stuck with it.

"It was a good break from basketball because it helped me not get burned out from the sport. I don't think I would get burned out. I just love volleyball."

Marinacci will continue her basketball career in college at USC where she will play for Michael Cooper, one of the all-time great Lakers from the Showtime era and a former coach for the L.A. Sparks.

"I'm actually really excited," Marinacci said. "Michael Cooper is going to be my coach. It was a big change from what I expected. You get recruited by coaches for four years of high school and then the whole entire program changes. I'm really excited to play for Cooper. I think he will bring a lot of good changes to the program and help us get better. I'm looking forward to that and playing at the next level.

"Cooper is a great coach. He has had a lot of pro experience. I think if I want to play at the next level after college that will be really good for me to play for him. I didn't really have any hesitation because I also want to go to that school for academics. Especially, for girls there isn't a whole lot you can do with basketball after college. You need to get that degree. I might be able to go play overseas or in a pro league, but who knows if that will happen?"

Marinacci plans to get a degree in communications and become a broadcaster one day.

"I want to be interviewing the NBA stars after the games," Marinacci said, but she still has plenty of hoops left in her before that day comes.

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com