Cypress’ Kenney Uses a Headfirst Approach

In a time when guards are falling back, looking for fame from behind the three-point line, Brian Kenney is going headlong toward the basket.

The statistics that explain Kenney’s preference for the layup and the medium-range jumper: zero for nine from the three-point range this season, one for 12 as a two-year starter at Cypress.

“I know I can make the shot,” said Kenney, a 6-foot-1 sophomore from Servite High School. “I just think I have a mental block every time I have the ball back there.”

Kenney’s idea of playing guard is more an old-fashioned one anyway. All he needs is a half-step or so, and he breaks to the basket. Next to the layup, Kenney’s favorite shot is the baseline jumper from 10 to 18 feet.

His knack for these shots is reflected in his shooting percentage. Kenney is hitting 59% (141 of 239) from the floor and 78% (81 of 104) from the free-throw line. He is averaging 13.4 points.

Kenney’s hard-nose style has been hardest on . . . his nose. He has suffered a pair of breaks this season.

The first was in late November against Los Angles City. He had the nose rebroken and straightened and missed five games. Kenney returned and had no problems until late January, when he broke his nose again Jan. 26 when he drove to the basket in Cypress’ loss to Rancho Santiago.

Kenney came out of the game, got a drink of water, used some tissue to stop the bleeding and returned to the court.

“That’s when the game is fun,” Kenney said. “It’s fun getting your nose broken. After that game, I had a broken nose and blood running down my leg from my knee. It makes you feel like you have accomplished something.”

Kenney averaged 22 points and five assists as a senior at Servite in 1988, then went to UC San Diego and tried to walk on with the basketball program. But Kenney had a 2.95 grade-point average in high school, and UCSD required a 3.0, so he was not allowed to go out for basketball.

He was put in an extension program and passed all the classes with a 3.0, but he was told he would need to do it again the next semester. Kenney said he didn’t feel the need to prove himself and returned home, enrolling at Cypress for the spring semester in 1989. He was a basketball starter by fall.

Kenney hopes to continue his career at a four-year college and is being recruited by Idaho, Chapman and Cal Poly Pomona, among others.

“I know that not being a three-point shooter could hurt my chances of getting recruited,” Kenney said. “Hopefully, they will look at the other things I can do.”

The men’s basketball playoff pairings will be announced today, with four days to prepare for Saturday’s first round.

Look for Rancho Santiago (29-2) to be the top-seeded team in Southern California. In the past, the first six seeded teams received a first-round bye, but not this season. The state coaches’ association has added six teams to make the field 32.

The final eight--four teams each from Northern and Southern California--will meet in the state tournament March 7-9 at UC Irvine’s Bren Center.

Erika Manning, a sophomore forward from Orange Coast, won the Orange Empire Conference women’s basketball scoring title in one of the tightest races ever.

Manning scored 543 points in 31 games to finish with a 17.516 average, just ahead of Golden West guard Bits Sirchia (507 points, 29 games, 17.482 average).

Manning has signed a national letter of intent to play at Cal State Dominguez Hills this fall.

Sirchia and her Golden West teammates have more immediate plans. The Rustlers open the Southern California Regional playoffs Wednesday with a home game against College of the Desert. Orange Coast failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Golden West, the defending state champions, are favorites to reach the state tournament.