2015-16 Girls’ Athlete of the Year: Alisa Shinn
Alisa Shinn had a plan in place before the 2015-16 basketball season began.
The Crescenta Valley High standout believed the pieces were in place for the Falcons to contend for the CIF Southern Section Division I-A championship. The 6-foot-4 Shinn realized she would need to be a centerpiece on both ends of the court.
Shinn and Crescenta Valley followed through by topping top-seeded Mira Costa, 37-36, to win the program’s first title in March. It marked the school’s first CIF basketball title, boys or girls.
For good measure, Crescenta Valley advanced to the second round of the CIF State Division II playoffs before falling to top-seeded Mater Dei. She collected a triple-double in her first state appearance.
“She’s one of the best players we’ve had since I came here [in 2006],” said Crescenta Valley Coach Jason Perez, the division’s coach of the year. “Alisa proved time and time again that she could dominate and she was one of our key players during our historic team run to the championship.”
The reserved and soft-spoken Shinn averaged 18.3 points, 12,4 rebounds, 4.1 blocks, 3.8 assists and 3.7 steals per contest. Shinn was named the All-Area Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year and All-Pacific League co-Player of the Year. In addition, she was named the division’s player of the year and received all-state recognition from Cal-Hi Sports.
Because of her accomplishments during her stellar senior year, Shinn was voted the 2015-16 Glendale News-Press Girls’ Athlete of the Year.
News-Press sports writer Charles Rich sat down with Shinn for an interview on the very court Shinn spent games dominating.
Here are excerpts from the interview.
Charles Rich: Here we are in the Crescenta Valley gymnasium. As you walked in, I noticed you looking up at the championship banner on the wall. What’s that banner symbolize?
Alisa Shinn: For me, it’s about making history. No other girls’ team at CV had done it until this year. To be a part of something special is something that sticks out in my mind. It’s quite an accomplishment because so many players and coaches put in the time and effort to make it happen. Maybe we were doubted the previous three years, but we wanted to go out and prove ourselves this time. When you put the hard work and dedication in, anything is possible.
CR: What does it mean to you to be part of a team that made school history?
AS: It’s exciting, because, during a season you learn more about yourself and your teammates. You become a lot like a big family. Once you start playing together, you find out where everybody will be on the court and things come together. We were able to come together and be there for each other. We played a lot of tough teams in the playoffs and we all wanted the same thing and that was a championship.
CR: What were your expectations coming into the season?
AS: After last season, we figured we’d have a very good team and that we felt like we had a shot to win CIF. I think that it stayed in the minds of our returning players and myself. We knew it would be hard to do it, but we had a positive attitude. We played well toward the end of league and that helped us get ready for the playoffs. After the first playoff game, we still knew it would be hard to win CIF. We felt confident we could do it.
CR: Did you believe Crescenta Valley had a championship-caliber team before the season began?
AS: We felt like we had a good chance. We had a very good defensive team and that would put us in a pretty good position to challenge. We had a lot of players with experience, like Josie Brock and Polin Megerdichian. We also had a good group of younger players, including Caity Bouchard. So, the parts were there. Coach [Jason] Perez and our assistants worked with us to get better in different areas so we would be ready for the playoffs.
CR: Crescenta Valley started to pick up its pace during the second half of Pacific League. What led to the turnaround?
AS: Even before league started, we lost a couple of games that we shouldn’t have. Looking back, maybe it turned out to be a good thing, because we knew we needed to be a little bit more sharp. We lost both games against Burroughs. After the second game against Burroughs, we agreed we had to be better. We got our defense to click. We didn’t lose another game in league and that put us on the right track.
CR: The Falcons ended the regular season winning their last six league games. Clearly, you had momentum entering the playoffs. What were the first few playoff games like playing?
AS: I think it was more like a fresh beginning. Yes, we finished up strong in league. We played against teams that had Division I players and we saw a lot of variety that I think helped us once we got to the championship game. We won some games by a lot and others games were very close. I think back to beating [second-seeded] Huntington Beach on the road by a point in the quarterfinals. There was a huge crowd down there. Then we played Chino Hills at home in the semifinals. That game went back and forth and we scored some points down the stretch to close it out.
CR: Crescenta Valley reaches the championship game against Mira Costa at Azusa Pacific University. What was the atmosphere like leading up to the game?
AS: I was in shock. I’m thinking to myself that here we are getting ready to play in the biggest game of the season. There was a pretty big crowd and we had a lot of students and teachers here to watch us play. We went out to warm up and we were being cheered. Again, it’s a chance to go up against a very good team in Mira Costa and make history.
CR: Did you like your team’s chances to win, even though you were going up against the top seed?
AS: I did. We knew coming in that Mira Costa was a well-coached team. At the same time, we were playing our best basketball of the season, so we figured why not? We had beaten some real good teams to get here, too. We stayed within ourselves and played excellent defense just about the whole game. A lot of crazy things happened in that last minute.
CR: Speaking of the last minute, or more like the last second, what was it like when the foul was called on a desperation three-point shot by Halle Maeda in the last second? Now you have all of these different thought spinning through your mind.
AS: There were a lot of things that I was thinking when we were standing at the line waiting for those shots. It felt like a real long time during those three free throws. Maybe all three would be missed and we’d win. Or we could go to overtime or we could lose. It seemed to take a long time for those shots to be taken. She made the first shot and now we’re up by one. She missed the second shot and now we can win or go to overtime. When the third shot was missed, the ball came off the rim and hit a couple of players before I grabbed the rebound.
CR: You grabbed the rebound and the final horn sounded. The whole Crescenta Valley team ran on the court for a wild celebration. What was it like to be a part of that celebration and then have the team be presented with the championship plaque?
AS: It felt so good. All of that hard work had finally paid off and we were the champions. It’s not something you’ll ever forget. We were hugging each other, but there was a sense of relief that we had done it.
CR: What was your best game of the season?
AS: No doubt the game we played in the first round of state on the road against [Spring Valley] Mount Miguel. I think it was the best game I ever played here. I started off kind of slow, but then I got on a roll, especially in the second. I ended up getting a triple-double [26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks]. I got some offensive rebounds and scored a lot of points inside. I made some free throws down the stretch and we got the [57-55] victory in a tough place.
CR: When it’s time for the 10-year reunion, what do you think it will be like to be back with your teammates and still see the championship banner on the wall?
AS: It will be awesome because you will seem to remember a certain play in a certain game. You’ll always remember what that final minute against Mira Costa was like. It will feel like we were all responsible for having a role in helping the team win it all. It’s something we did for the community, not just the school and ourselves. It’s sunk in quite a bit now, but it’s going to be something I’ll always look back on.
CR: You’ve closed one major chapter in your career at Crescenta Valley. What’s next for you?
AS: I’m going to Pasadena City College and play two years and then transfer to a four-year school. Maybe after that, I’d like to play somewhere overseas. PCC is committed to putting a good team together and they want to help me succeed. That goes from the classroom to athletics. I think it’s the right move.
Top 10 Girls’ Athletes of 2015-16 (full story)
- Alissa Shinn
- Heather MacDougall
- Kayla Lund
- Audrey Taylor
- Sammy Fabian
- Julia Gonzalez
- Therese Boles
- Natalie O’Brien
- Helen Schaeffer
- Tala Ismail
