Shooting Star

Don’t call Marilyn Dubon a ball hog.

Don’t assume she’s selfish or unwilling to share with teammates.

If she shoots the basketball frequently for the Glendale College women’s team, it’s not because she owns the ball.

It’s because the person in charge of the ball, Coach Dyan Miller, gives the 5-foot-7 sophomore guard free reign on the court. Any shot is acceptable, unless it’s from the parking lot.

“She’s creative in her scoring,” Miller said. “She can shoot off the dribble, she can come off a pick, she can drive to the basket. She has a real quick release.”

That wasn’t the case when Dubon arrived at Glendale from Belmont High, where she was an All-Northern League selection her senior season in 1998-99. A point guard who didn’t shoot a lot with the Sentinels, she adjusted to a new role.

Dubon led the Western State Conference in scoring last season, averaging 23.3 points and a conference-high 20 shots. She is averaging a WSC-high 19.7 points and 19 shots, and had 1,029 career points entering a game against Valley on Wednesday night, the first Glendale women’s player to reach 1,000.

But Dubon, 19, is having to work harder for her shots this season.

“Last season, people didn’t know me,” she said. “Now, as the game goes on, I see what kind of defense they are playing against me and I try to take advantage.”

For the most part, opposing teams are shadowing Dubon with a box-and-one defense designed to keep her in check. It works . . . sometimes. Dubon scored a season-high 30 points against Butte on Dec. 1, 23 against Hartnell the next night and 21 twice, against Victor Valley in November and against Canyons this month.

“It hasn’t been the easiest of circumstances for her to get those 1,000 points,” Miller said.

Or to attend Glendale. Dubon lives with her parents and younger brother in Hollywood, where the family settled after immigrating from Guatemala when she was an infant.

She played baseball, volleyball and basketball in youth leagues, much to her father’s surprise.

“Nobody in our family has played organized sports,” Joe Dubon said. “But we are delighted she’s doing so well playing basketball. We go to as many games as possible.”

At Belmont, Dubon focused on basketball, playing three years on the varsity.

Dubon considered attending another junior college, but Belmont’s coach knew Miller and suggested Glendale.

Although not exactly a slam dunk, the persistent Miller finally got her. And just in time.

After finishing 6-24 in 1998-99, the second-worst record in the WSC, the Vaqueros needed scoring punch. Enter Dubon, who took about 100 shots at each practice before her freshman season and led Glendale to a 14-16 record. She was an All-WSC Southern Division pick.

Before facing Valley on Wednesday, the Vaqueros were 11-10, 1-2 in WSC division play. It’s hardly an improvement over last season, but it’s not for lack of trying by Dubon.

“You can smother her and she’ll still hit the shot,” said John Taylor, Antelope Valley’s first-season coach and former coach at Valley. “Her toughness is very underrated.

“I kick myself because I had an assistant see her play a couple of years ago, but she didn’t tell me how good [Dubon] was.”

Everyone has a pretty good idea these days.

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COLLEGE FOCUS

Men’s and women’s basketball statistics and standings. D11