Farr Makes Point at Guard by Taking Charge in Pinch

Ray Panici was scared--or so he says.

Panici is the girls’ basketball coach at Capistrano Valley High School and his team was about to play its second-round 5-A playoff game against Santa Barbara Saturday without its regular point guard, who was declared ineligible Friday.

Panici’s solution was to move his sophomore off-guard, Alisa Farr, to the point.

He needn’t have worried. Farr, the Times’ Athlete of the Week, scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Capistrano Valley to a 56-50 victory.

“I was really worried,” Panici said. “Santa Barbara has some really good players and it was Alisa’s first game at point guard. But she made great passes, led the team in assists and got clutch rebounds. A couple of times she got the rebound and went coast-to-coast.”

Farr seemed oblivious to any pressure.

“It was OK,” she said. “I’ve played point guard before on-and-off, filling in when our regular point guard would take a rest.

“The difference (between playing point guard and off-guard) is taking charge. I have to earn the respect of the older players.”

When Capistrano Valley opened the playoffs Wednesday against Inglewood, Farr led her team to a 59-28 victory with 27 points from the off-guard position.

“She averaged 14 points per game this season--I would pull her out against weaker teams,” Panici said. “But she plays better against better teams.”

Occasionally, a team will design a defense specifically to stop Farr. But usually, it doesn’t work.

“Inglewood went into a box-and-one and put a girl on her specifically,” Panici said. “But when she was trapped or double-teamed she made the deep pass to get an easy basket and stay out of trouble.”

TOP PERFORMERS

Debbie Fischer scored 30 points to lead Edison to a 56-50 victory over Walnut in a 4-AA second-round game Saturday. She had 20 points in a 48-47 first-round victory over Arlington Wednesday.

Aimee McDaniel scored 20 points to lead Brea-Olinda to a 76-32 victory over El Dorado in a 3-AA second-round game Saturday.

Jennifer Rohrig had 24 points, 19 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead Mission Viejo to a 52-45 victory over Torrance in a 4-AA second-round game Saturday. She had 21 points to lead the Diablos in a 60-25 first-round victory over Claremont Wednesday.

Jenny Scanlon had four goals to lead Troy to a 5-1 victory over Millikan in a 3-A first-round soccer match Thursday. Scanlon, who has scored three or more goals six times this season, has 24 goals on the year.

Tracy Wolfe had 19 points, 18 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead Ocean View to a 47-43 5-A second-round victory over West Covina Saturday.

Alisa Farr

Capistrano Valley High School

* Position: Guard

* Height, Weight, Class: 5-7, 115, Sophomore.

* Last Week: Farr scored 27 points to lead Capistrano Valley to a 59-28 victory over Inglewood in a 5-A first-round game and had 24 points and nine rebounds in a 56-50 victory over Santa Barbara.

* Season: Farr averages 14 points a game.