Villa Park delivering before coach does

Who is the hardest working pregnant woman in the county?

It might be Villa Park coach Kim Cram-Torres, who is still roaming the sidelines and barking out instructions to her Spartans eight months into her second pregnancy.

"I know, I know, I've heard all the jokes," Cram-Torres said. "It is what it is. I have a 5-year-old and now this one. We're ecstatic."

The No. 7 Spartans, who are led by juniors Nicole Ballestero and Brianna Salvatore and freshman Connie Ballestero, are off to an 11-4 start and they just finished as runners-up to No. 3 Foothill in the Larry Doyle O.C. Championships last week.

"I think the big thing is it's the maturity, the step up from the underclassmen to the upperclassmen," Cram-Torres said. "Connie was a great addition to our veterans."

Cram-Torres said her husband, assistant coach Joe Torres, will step in and fill her role on the sidelines when she delivers the next addition to the Torres family later this month.

•USC-bound Christina Marinacci was determined to shut down Edison's Bonnie Samuelson, who scored 27 points in Edison's 67-52 victory over the Knights last season, when Foothill hooked up with the Chargers in the semifinals of the O.C. Championships. Marinacci was all over the sophomore sensation from the opening tip-off and held Samuelson to five points.

"I remember that, it was in my head," said Marinacci, who took pride in shutting down an offensive threat like Samuelson. "Mostly people look at how many points I put up, but I actually do well on defense and help my team in that way." …

•Foothill, which is off to a 13-0 start, has a very tough stretch of games coming up. The No. 3 Knights kick off Sea View League play at Huntington Beach on Thursday, they play host to No. 2 Brea Olinda on Saturday and they play host to No. 6 Woodbridge next Tuesday. …

•Santa Margarita lost to Laguna Hills by 16 points on Dec. 13, but the Eagles avenged that loss with a 49-39 victory over the Hawks in the O.C. Championships. The Eagles will bring an 8-5 record and a three-game winning streak into Trinity League play.

"Early in the season we just weren't playing well together," said Eagles coach Scott Bricker, whose team played in the South Coast Holiday Classic, the Nike TOC and the O.C. Championships.

"Going to Arizona really helped us out even though we only went 2-2. We've played, I think, the toughest schedule in Orange County. I don't think you can find anybody that's played as many tough games as we have. I think in a game like that (against Laguna Hills) it pays off." …

•Mater Dei is ranked No. 4 and Brea Olinda is No. 29 in the most recent ESPN Rise Fab 50 national rankings, which came out on Dec. 24.

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com