La Reina's leader
Senior guard Lauren Carson does it all for Regents girls' basketball team
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers JUMP SHOOTER- La Reina's Lauren Carson, right, shoots over San Marcos' Lyndsay Pearson during Saturday's 56-33 loss. Carson leads La Reina in points, assists, steals and 3-point shots.

The girls' basketball team at La Reina High hasn't been in the playoffs for the last three seasons. Because of players like Lauren Carson, though, the Regents are hoping they can finally make it to the postseason in 2007.

Thanks in large part to Carson, La Reina is off to a 10-4 start this season. Carson has been extremely motivated in her final year at LRHS, averaging 16.3 points a game, 4.2 rebounds a game and leading the team in 3-point field goals.

"For me this is it at La Reina this season," Carson said. "If I don't put in my hardest effort this year, then we won't make the playoffs, and that is something I want to experience before I leave here."

Head coach Darren Burge believes that players like Carson and Liz Kotake are more motivated than ever to make the playoffs before they hang up the gold and green.

Lauren Carson

"Their team attitude has been great this season," Burge said. "In their three years here they have never made the playoffs, and they have been doing everything early on to make sure they finish up here on a good note."

Although the Regents team has struggled in recent years, Carson has excelled. When Carson was in seventh grade, she hit a shot for the junior high team that gained her the confidence to succeed at the high school level.

"I was the youngest player on the team that year, and I hit a 3point shot in the corner as the buzzer sounded in a tournament game," Carson said. "That was the first time I felt that maybe I was really good at this sport."

Carson used that confidence at the high school level and promptly made the team as a sophomore.

Once again, Carson saw herself as the youngest player on the team, but yet again, Carson proved she belonged. Her sophomore year she was named to the All Tri-Valley first team, while her junior year she was placed on the All Tri-Valley second team. This season she has bigger goals in mind as she said she wants the team to make CIF while she is named to the AllCIF team.

"Last year we had a team that lost a lot of games," Carson said. "Over the summer though we started winning a lot of games, and that has carried over to this year. We have a good mix of new players that flow well together with the girls that have been here awhile. I think if we continue to play with the confidence we have been showing we will be all right and make the playoffs."

This past summer Carson spent much of her time playing in pickup games throughout Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks hoping to improve her game. So far, she said, it has worked well.

"I played a lot of pickup ball with guys that are a lot tougher and quicker than some of the girls we play against," Carson said. "I think that has helped me become stronger, and it's helped me release my shot quicker."

Another reason may be the guidance of new head coach Burge, who has seen Carson play since she was in junior high. Burge said that Carson could always shoot, but this year she is doing better at playing defense and passing the ball as well. Currently Carson leads the team in assists with 40 and is first in steals with 43.

"She has matured every bit into a senior," Burge said. "She works hard like a senior and wants to win like a senior. I think a lot of her success comes from the fact that she loves the game so much. There are certain types of players that when you tell them to run, they ask why. She never asks why; she understands that you have to work hard in order to win."

Carson said that Burge has helped elevate her game to a higher level this season.

"He has given me a lot of good advice such as to always keep my head in the game and stay calm," Carson said. "He gives me a lot of confidence on the court."

While Burge has given Carson the extra confidence this year, Burge is sure that the team will keep winning if she continues to play well.

"She has a unique quality when the game is tight," Burge said. "The other team will have momentum, and she will just have this look in her eye of an assassin. She will then come down the court and bury a 3-point-shot to kill that momentum."

Carson and La Reina play tonight at Malibu. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.