OCR Text |
Show rui IT Page A6 Times Newspaper Thursday, January 20, 2005 Orem senior Jenny Fiso has stepped into a leadership role for the Tigers, becoming a (O (O : stows LANDON OLSON 'I imi'N Sports Kditor The start of Jenny Kino's athletic career could have ' '-ii an ominous sign of thing- to crime. 'on-ider her start to basketball. I never really wanted to play before but I had this neighbor who played, -be was in J 0th grade, she was kind of like rny idol." Fiso said Hso had played with her brothers 'she's fourth out of 10 kid-ii. hut never in an organized league. Then she beard about the seventh grade trvouts. 1 thought it wa- a meeting and showed up in jeans .:nd it wa full on trvouts," she said. "1 tried out in jeans the f i r - t dav 1 wised up and wore shorts the next d..v" Hut she still marie the tcm Now she's Orem's starting start-ing point guard and a ! arocaptain. Softball "tarted with similar foreboding. I played one time in eighth grade for 'E and that's the only time and 1 hated it because it was so stupid, I t bought ," Fiso said . Then a friend got her to try out in ninth grade. ' I just tried out with her-snd amazingly I made it. I don't even know how. 1 didn't even know how to play," lio -aid. Hut that year she played on Orem's sophomore team, moving up to .IV the next two seasons. This spring .' he II be varsity. So, even with questionable starts, what has led Fiso to excel in two sports 'among other tilings)? Her athletic ability is a ,;ig part of it. Both of her parent played sports, and while Fiso doesn't have a lot height for fasket ball, she has more than enough quick-ne- and speed to day the point. More than that though, ijfs her intensity and drive 'in more ways than one) on ithe court. "That's the thing J think I like the most is she's relentless going to the basket,'' said Orem basketball coach Joss Reed "She goe hard. She makes a lot of good tilings happen inside. She gets fouled a lot." Fiso said, "That's one of my goals is to always be intense and play bard. He passionate about it. 1 really like to draw fouls." $ r When she goes to the basket, good things happen lor "rem. Averaging 10 Joints a game, Fiso gets manv of those from the foijil line, but she's also able 'o core inside, and failing that she can find open teammates As her assist numbers go up, so does the team's : coring. Just one of three jplayers averaging double digits, two teammates are ach averaging just under 1 1 points, while a third is just over rune. As a team the Tigers are averaging h2T points per game, but in their last contest, had a season-high fiO' points. "If you go back and just look at her stats, every game he'.-; had more assists, more points, taking more of a leadership role," Heed said. "That's what we expect her 'o do She's more confident with what's going on. She knows the players better so Unrigs are a lot more fluid . hen she's on the floor" It's been a learning experience for the young Tiger quad, getting to know each other and finding their identity. That identity has turned out to be a team that likes to run the ball Fiso said she really likes to make steals and get the fast break going, but a lot of time that h aves her out of position. "I just have to be more smart defensively," she says. Hut once she gets the ball, look out. If she likes to drive hard from the half court, imagine being able to r 'in a transition offense on the full court. fh. ' M st' '.vr- 'i ' f " I ! t. V I ..f. f 1 ' ' " a) ft, p : 'X fcMIMMWMMMlMMltMtMBMMil .lt n- II if I It I .11 J - V Jenny Fiso slips under a Copper Hills defender while driving to the basket during a no-reglon game this season. phniiis by l.andon Ohimllimes Newspaper Jenny Fiso (21) transitions the offense downcourt on the fastbreak, one of her specialities, against Highland. "I like to run the ball. That's what I think we're the best at is transition. I like that," Fiso says. It's taken her, and the Tigers, some time to get there, though. Fiso played the last few years under coach Scott Houle's system, seeing some varsity time last season, sea-son, including key minutes in the state playoffs. But Houle left during the summer to coach at UVSC, and Reed was hired as the basketball coach. That left Fiso and her teammates, with having to learn a new system. Not only that, hut the Tigers lost seven seniors from last season's varsity squad. Fiso was then in a position of not only needing to learn a new system, but rise as a leader as one of only three seniors on the team. "That's the way it is. It doesn't matter whether its high school or col lege, sometimes f S that's the way it is," Reed said. "It does n't change her love for the game. She loves the game. "She's been a joy. I wish she were a junior. Kind of a dis advantage where you've been in the system for three years and the new guy comes in and I ask her to do different things than ', she's used to doing. She's just been really good about doing the things I've asked her to do," Reed said. Fiso said, "You just have to start from scratch, but trust your coaches and do what they ask. I guess it was tough at first, but it kind of comes naturally because there's no one else older and since I'm a point guard I guess I'm kind of like the leader." To start the season, Fiso wasn't quite at the level she's out now, but that breakout came during a mid-December mid-December road trip to Southern Utah. After that trip, Reed said Fiso had gained confidence confi-dence and found her shooting touch. Since that trip the Tigers are on a four-game win streak and Fiso has also become a vital component to have on the court, as the offense goes through a definite change when she has to go out. "She is the floor captain," Reed said. "I tell her, 'The team plays to your level. When you're not on the floor then we've got a problem.' It's tough for her. She's been thrown into the role. She didn't get a lot of time last year. She knows she needs to run things this year." Once basketball is over, Fiso will transition transi-tion over to softball, where once again she'll have a new coach and be expected to be a leader on a team that lost most of its starters from last season. Except the transition shouldn't be as drastic, dras-tic, as Jamie Nebeker, who was an assistant last season, takes over this year. Plus, playing play-ing behind standout catcher Marsha Heimuli, Fiso had plenty of opportunity to learn. Something she said she really needed. "My freshman year I played everything. I didn't even know , the rules or anything. I just played everywhere," Fiso said. "1 didn t like it at first." Then her sophomore year, her coach converted her to catcher. Her reac tion to that was about 4 L 1 . . me same as ner initial ini-tial reaction to soft- ball. "I hated it my first cou ple of games. 1 didn't even know what I was doing," Fiso said. "I didn't know where to throw the ball, I didn't did-n't know any thing. Marsha just taught me. Marsha taught me everything I know. It was good for me that she's so good." Outside of sports, Fiso has also excelled. One accomplishment she likes to talk about is winning a cooking competition last year with then teammates team-mates Heather Keith and Kristine McConkie. "I'm not a very good cook, but we got into a class and we had to enter into this cooking competition," Fiso said. "We made this shrimp pasta with green beans and then this salad and creme anglaise, which is a dessert, and it's really good." An athlete. A cook. She's also a student. Fiso has been able to maintain a 4.0 GPA and is currently taking AP English and AP U.S. history, her favorite classes. "I just do my homework. It's not that hard," she says, then reconsiders a little bit. "I have to stay up late sometimes. I have some work to do when I get home." Work which included finishing a U.S. history project, reading 100 pages for English and revising revis-ing two essays on that given afternoon. She also interns for two hours every other day at her uncle's doctor's office in Provo. There she helps out working around the office or helping with patients by taking pulses and pricking fingers. fin-gers. Last year she took medical anatomy and is preparing for a career in the medical field. Originally she wanted to be a doctor, then a nurse, now she's changed her mind again and wants to be a doctor again. As for change in basketball, don't expect to see it for Fiso. At one time she said she wanted to play post because it seemed fun, but once she tried it found it's more difficult than it looks. Instead, she'll just keep doing her job at point. "I just like to stick with point guard because it's more natural to me, I guess," Fiso said. "I just like to drive." J I i 0' . i ' 1 - - .-L j ' t?'."L y 'i if f" Avv:" " f--; 4';y? fit A " -r HAS I POORC |