Thumbs Up : Marina’s Charroin Makes Big Effort for Winning Cause

Dawn Charroin of Marina High School was not giving any high fives before, during or after Saturday night’s victory over Loara in the Marina-Edison tournament.

A dislocated thumb on her right, shooting hand, made it impossible to slap hands with her teammates. The thumb was throbbing enough without her aggravating it further.

Charroin also was suffering from the flu, and Viking Coach Mike Thornton played her in short, two-minute spurts.

Still, Charroin, a 6-foot 1-inch center, scored Marina’s first five points and the Vikings won their game, 58-31. She finished with 10 points, second best on the team, but a season low for her.

Only once Saturday did fans see her at her best. After a teammate missed a shot, Charroin leaped high above a crowd of players to snare a rebound.

Charroin landed, and before the defenders could react, steadied herself and dropped in a short jump shot.

She gets many of the 16 points and 10 rebounds a game she averages in that manner.

That competitive drive is the reason Charroin was playing in Saturday’s game. She bristles when asked if she thought about sitting out.

“No,” she said. “We’re out to win. I want to support the team. I don’t want to let my teammates down.”

Said Thornton: “She has missed only one game in her career and only a couple of practices. She’s played when others wouldn’t have.

“Last week (when Charroin hurt her thumb), she said, ‘I don’t think I can play.’ About 10 minutes into practice, she said, ‘I can play.’ ”

And so she did.

Last season, Marina finished 16-11 overall and in second place in the Sunset League behind Edison, which won the Southern Section 4-A title. The Vikings have never won the Sunset League championship.

Charroin demonstrated how much she would like to change that Saturday night.

“I like to see about 10 more players like her come around, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said Thornton, who is in his eighth season coaching Marina.

With a 9-2 record, this would appear to be Marina’s season. In addition to Charroin, Marina has the scoring of guard Dee Dee Stigar, who’s averaging 15 points a game, and the experience of forward Liberty Brewster, who is a four-year varsity player.

As dedicated an effort as Charroin is making in basketball, she chose this week to give up that sport after this season to accept a volleyball scholarship to the University of Oregon.

“I think I like volleyball a little better,” Charroin said. “Plus, I wasn’t recruited that much for basketball.

“I wanted to decide what I wanted to do and where I was going to go before Christmas so I could put my mind on basketball and give it my best effort.”