Girls’ Basketball Dream Team: Bruening played big for CdM
Corona del Mar High girls’ basketball Coach Mark Decker talked with pride during the season about the number of two-sport athletes on his team.
Junior Natalia Bruening, the Sea Kings’ 6-foot-4 forward, would be at the top of that list.
In volleyball, Bruening gets to float just a bit under the radar as a middle blocker. That’s definitely not true on the basketball court, where Bruening continually gets double- or triple-teamed. Every team’s game plan was to shut down No. 32 for CdM.
This used to often visibly frustrate Bruening. This year, something appeared different.
“As I got older, I kind of saw the double- and triple-teams as a compliment,” Bruening said. “It finally clicked in my head. I’m opening up more opportunities for my teammates.”
A great player at the core of a great team, Bruening shared the Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Player of the Year award last year with Estancia graduate Celia Duran. This year, it is Bruening’s alone.
She has put in the work in basketball. Last year, she started playing club for West Coast Premier.
“It really prepared me,” Bruening said. “The club season is so intense.”
This year, she’s playing on a Cal Swish team coached by Vanguard University women’s coach Russ Davis. Cal Swish is playing at a tournament in Virginia this weekend, and Bruening will play with the team this summer in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League.
“Sometimes the good players don’t really work on their game to improve, but she definitely works on it,” Decker said. “Playing against strong competition, it improved her skills. Her strength and confidence have both improved tremendously. I think that was a really big thing, taking another step to become even better.
“She’s determined. She wants to be the best, and she works hard at it. I expect her to continue to get better.”
The individual numbers were again there for Bruening, the Pacific Coast League MVP and an All-CIF Southern Section Division 3AA selection. The fifth-leading scorer in Orange County, Bruening led area players with averages of 17 points and 11 rebounds per game, adding two assists and two blocks.
Bruening was dominant. She poured in 39 points in a Segerstrom Tournament fifth-place semifinal game against Valencia, just one off a school record. Yet it was the team success that meant the most to her.
“I’m really proud of our team,” she said. “We won league, which is insane and super-awesome. It was just a great overall season.”
Corona del Mar went a strong 23-9 overall and yes, went 8-2 in league to share the title with Woodbridge. It is CdM’s second league title in program history, and first since 1999-2000.
The team accomplishments go on and on. CdM won its CdM Tip-Off Tournament for the first time in six years, with Bruening as the tournament MVP, and advanced to the finals of the Ayala tournament.
The Sea Kings advanced to the CIF semifinals for the second straight year before losing to top-seeded eventual champion North Torrance. And they won a CIF State Southern California Regional Division III playoff game for the first time in program history, before losing at Orange Lutheran in a regional quarterfinal to conclude their season.
“I don’t think you can take it for granted,” Decker said. “Just because we did so well the year before, a lot of times people expect that’s going to happen again, and it doesn’t. You’ve got to work really hard, probably even harder, to get back or surpass that. I think we did that. We really worked hard and came together, so I was proud of that.”
Bruening was a big part of that. As important as her talent was her leadership. Decker said she did a good job of bringing in CdM’s new girls, like freshman guard Tia Grippo, and making them feel comfortable.
To Bruening, it was worth it. So is playing both volleyball and basketball. So does she want to play one or both in college?
“I have no idea yet,” she said. “It’s all completely dependent on the school.”
Bruening is keeping her options open, even if she was hardly ever open on the basketball court.
Here’s a look at the other six selections for the 2014-15 Newport-Mesa Dream Team:
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Maya Van Den Heever
Estancia
The Orange Coast League MVP has always been a gifted athlete, but Coach Judd Fryslie credited Van Den Heever, a junior point guard, with playing an even smarter game this year. A leader on both offense and defense, Van Den Heever averaged 10.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and a team-best 6.5 assists and 5.8 steals for the Eagles, helping them go a perfect 10-0 in league on their way to a third straight outright league title. She was constantly reading the opponent’s passing lanes and Van Den Heever also made some big shots on her way to earning All-CIF Southern Section Division 4AA honors. She led Estancia (19-9) to the quarterfinals of the Division 4AA playoffs, where they lost at top-seeded JSerra. Van Den Heever, an all-tournament team selection at the Garden Grove and Norwalk tournaments, is a repeat Dream Team selection.
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McKenna Izzi
Newport Harbor
Izzi, a junior, was forced into point guard action for the Sailors following the graduation of Jennifer Lopez. She responded in a big way. Playing every game for the Sailors (8-16), she averaged a team-best 12.5 points per game, along with 3.6 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.4 assists. Izzi was a first-team All-Sunset League selection for the Sailors, who played Estancia within five points and beat Costa Mesa by 48 points in nonleague action. The Sailors finished 1-9 in league, but their 46-39 win at Marina snapped a 38-game league losing streak. Izzi scored 20 points in the win.
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Brianna Westrup
Corona del Mar
The 5-foot-9 senior point guard, who is headed to the University of Virginia for soccer, had not played basketball since eighth grade. But Decker convinced her to lace up the sneakers after she decided not to play high school soccer this year, and the Sea Kings were better for it. A first-team All-Pacific Coast League selection, Westrup averaged eight points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals per game. She upped her scoring to 11 points per game in league and was an all-tournament team selection after helping CdM win its host CdM Tip-Off Tournament. This is the second straight year Westrup has been on a Dream Team, as last year she was a girls’ soccer pick.
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Slade Garnett
Estancia
A senior guard/forward, Garnett was determined to return to the court after tearing her ACL last July. The co-captain did so early in league in January and immediately made an impact as the Eagles roared to their third straight league title. Her return allowed the Eagles to move her freshman sister, Finley, more to the middle, while Slade was a dangerous outside shooting threat. A first-team All-Orange Coast League selection, Slade Garnett finished with averages of 6.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 4.8 steals per game. She is a repeat Dream Team selection.
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Maria King
Corona del Mar
A 5-foot-10 senior forward, King was a four-year varsity player for the Sea Kings. She brought that kind of experience to CdM this year. Decker credited her for doing a bit of everything, and being a good leader. King made some big shots in some of CdM’s biggest wins. She was a first-team All-Pacific Coast League selection after averaging seven points, three rebounds and three assists for the Sea Kings. She was also an all-tournament team selection at the CdM Tip-Off Tournament.
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Finley Garnett
Estancia
A 5-foot-8 forward, the freshman immediately stepped in for the Eagles and improved throughout the season. She was Estancia’s leading scorer and averaged 14.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 4.4 steals per contest. Fryslie was comfortable putting her at the front of the Eagles’ press defense, where she was a good fit, and her outside shot also improved throughout the season. Very athletic, the first-team All-Orange Coast League selection seemed to always find a way to get to the basket. She was an all-tournament team selection at the Oxford Academy and Garden Grove tournaments. Look for her to be a Dream Team mainstay in the future.
