SRO 2000 Salutes LaCrecia on her success

By: By John Flick (The Daily Courier)

From the Projects to the Pricky Pears…. Anderson has escaped to the canyon of Orme.

She came to Orme an angry young girl. Full of distrust and apprehension courtesy of her upbringing in the projects of San Francisco. She'll leave a woman that now says "what's up?" instead of looking at the ground and pretending she didn't hear the one who greeted her. But one thing has remained constant in her. She brought it from Frisco and it's blossomed and bloomed. It's her love of basketball and her prowess in playing the game.

Senior LaCrecia Anderson is averaging 26points a game and 12 rebounds for the 8-2 and 12-6 Lady Warriors. Last year she averaged 22 and in her freshman year, when she started with four seniors, she was good for about 10. But she was a different girl. One that had the foresight to want to get out of the projects at the tender age of 14, but like anyone, took awhile to adjust to the other side of the tracks. "I wanted to get away from the distractions, the violence, the teen pregnancy," she said while sitting on a bench on a sunny Friday afternoon at Orme School.

She received the Roberts Foundation Scholarship, a scholarship to under privileged children in the Bay Area, to attend Orme. And having heard nothing but police sirens and calls of crack for sale, she didn't trust anyone when she arrived smack dab in the middle of the canyon and desert of Arizona. "The first two years I didn't open up to anyone but black people," said Anderson. "I don't think she trusted white people that wanted to help her," said James Smith, Director of Admissions at the school. "But she's come such a long way. She's one of the friendliest girls at the school now." Said Anderson, "Perhaps the best thing that the school has given me, other than a great education, is the ability to deal with other cultures."

The surrounding country was foreign to her too. The first time she saw a javelina, she exclaimed, "What the hell is that?" You could say Anderson has tusks on the court, but that' something that's been constant with her. She's got a mean jump shot. She throws it up and kicks her legs back a la Dick Barnett of the New York Knicks. Barnett averaged 15 points a game for the Knicks from 1965-74.

When asked if her biggest prep thrill was scoring 39 points against Baghdad, she said, and not in a boastful way, " I scored 39 points in eight grade. So it wasn't any big deal." She immediately pointed out a team performance rather than an individual one. "We played our best game of the year on Tuesday against Salome," said Anderson. "we scored the first eight points and never looked back." Coach Don Barrick has seen her improve by leaps and bounds. "Last year, she may shoot a jumper that went straight and bounced off of the rim. Then she would try that four or five more times without making an adjustment. Now, she puts an arc on it on the following shot."

She can also dribble the ball, sometimes coast to coast, though the 5'9 player likes to play down low and get physical. Coach Brad Clifford has had his eye on her for his Yavipai Lady Roughriders, while Cal. State Hayward of the Bay Area is courting her, too. It's Barrick's best club since he's coach Orme. A tenure so long he can't quite tell you exactly when he started coaching. "Sometime in the 80's". Adds the coach,"It's nice we were able add (Katie) Jones to the team. It's been frustrating at times for LaCrecia, because the personnel she's been surrounded by are on a different level." Friday night against Mayer, Anderson scored 26 and Jones chipped in 17. "I've had some great one. But she's the best," said Barrick.

"I'm proud of the whole team and so is she." With the victory over Mayer on Friday, the Warriors have practically clinched a regional game, something Anderson hasn't played in since her freshman year and that resulted in a first round loss.

Anderson revved up about the tournament. "I just want to go to State," she said. Until then she'll continue to work hard on the court, and seek peace on the grounds of Orme. "Sometimes I feel all alone when I'm walking on campus, It's so peaceful here," she said.

Epilogue:

Anderson received a 4yr. scholarship for Orme High School in Arizona through the assistance of the late Gloria R. Davis. After graduating from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Middle School. LaCrecia is currently attending her 1st year of college at CAL State Hayward.

 

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photography by Frederic Larson, SF Chronicle

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