She’s Aiming for the Books : Capistrano Valley’s Jennings Has Good Shot at Breaking a Few Records

The opposing coach cringed when he saw his defender leave Jenny Jennings open on the wing, three feet behind the three-point arc with the game in the balance.

The defender had gone to the corner to double team another player--to the dismay of Newport Harbor Coach Bob Dukus and the delight of Capistrano Valley’s Pete Belanto.

The ball went right back to Jennings, who took a step forward and scored her third three-point basket of the fourth quarter. It gave Capistrano Valley a two-point lead with a few seconds left, and it drove home a point.

Never, ever, leave Jennings alone.

That was the lesson last week at the South Coast Invitational, where Jennings made 27 three-pointers in four games. She had seven in her 32-point effort against Newport Harbor.

She has established herself as one of the season’s best shooters. It seemed, at times, she could not miss in the Cougars’ first tournament. She was 27 of 46 (58.7%) from beyond the arc, and she’s averaging 24 points per game.

“I think she’s the best shooter, boy or girl, in Orange County,” Belanto said. “The boys’ coaches at our school have basically said the same thing. They just marvel at her.”

Her work ethic exceeds anyone Belanto has coached--including Angie White, who starts at Pepperdine.

“There’s always somebody better than me. That’s my thing,” said Jennings, who works tirelessly. “I think of myself as decent, but there’s so many people better than me.”

Tom Airey, who set a county standard while at Capistrano Valley in 1991-92 with 129 three-pointers, is a coach for the freshman boys. Jennings said they played H-O-R-S-E one afternoon, and she won.

Records? Jennings is clueless, except for the single-game school record (seven) she holds--equaling Airey’s boys’ record. But if she remains unconscious from the field, she’s liable to shoot down some of the county’s three-point marks.

The county girls’ record for three-pointers in a game is 11, set by Brea Olinda’s Nicole Erickson during the 1992-93 season against Savanna. The prospect of that record holding up?

“She’ll break it before the season’s over,” Dukus said.

The county record for three-pointers in a season is 105, set by Edison’s Debbie Fischer in the 1989-90 season.

Belanto says it, too, will be dusted.

The section season record is 121 by Sarah Hagman of La Crescenta Crescenta Valley (1993-94).

“Jenny’s been in streaks before when she can’t buy a basket, but that was when she wasn’t as confident as she is now,” Belanto said. “I’m not sure [her] missing three or four or five in a row will destroy her confidence right now. That’s why she might have a shot at it. But if we go deep in the playoffs and play 30 games, I’d say she has a good chance at [breaking the section record].”

The Cougars (4-1), ranked sixth in Orange County, will play at least 21 more games, including today’s matchup against second-ranked Woodbridge (4-0) in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions. If Jennings maintains her pace, she will make 140 three-pointers.

Can it last?

“I don’t know,” said Jennings, a 5-foot-10 guard/forward who has signed to play next season at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “Shooting is always real iffy. There’s always going to be slumps, but if I remain focused and relaxed, I should continue to have success with my shot.”

Jennings has long been an outstanding shooter. As a freshman at Estancia, she made 41.9% of her three-point shots.

The next year, at Newport Harbor, she averaged 10.7 points.

Jennings shot 39.9% from three-point range last season at Capistrano Valley and averaged 14.5 points and 8.7 rebounds.

Her travails had become somewhat comical, she admits, going from school to school for one reason or another. Last year was her sixth in six years.

Her mom wanted her to attend Costa Mesa, Jennings said, but she missed her friends at Estancia. Things “didn’t work out” at Estancia, she said, and when the coach at Newport Harbor resigned and the program’s future was up in the air, coupled with Jennings’ academic struggles, she went to Capistrano Valley. Newport Harbor and Capistrano Valley had been playing together in an off-season run-and-gun league because neither team could field a full team.

“It’s been much better basketball-wise playing at three different [high] schools,” Jennings said. “It teaches you to adjust. You have to make big adjustments when you go to college, anyway, and you learn to deal with all kinds of personalities and teachers and the way things work at certain schools.

“I think it has its benefits. The ideal is to go to the same school four years and never have to move, but it doesn’t always happen. And just because it does happen doesn’t mean it’s terrible.”

That seems evident today. She has a scholarship in hand and appears to be happy doing what she loves best.

“I want to have fun. If I’m just playing and having fun, I usually play well,” Jennings said. “It’s when I get frustrated that I don’t play well. If I go out and have fun and play hard, good things will happen.”