It Might Not Show, but Rustlers’ Brun Is Having a Blast

Kristin Brun, a sophomore guard from Golden West College, has fun playing basketball.

Really, she does.

No matter how it might look to everybody else, she is having the time of her life.

She is the first to admit that she gives the wrong impression because of her game face.

“My dad always tells me that I have to smile more,” she said. “But I’m very serious on the court. Every win is important to me. The more the better. . . . But I’m having a blast, it’s too much hard work not to.”

Brun, a two-year starter who is usually all smiles off the court, said the steady emotional course she follows is especially important because of her primary role as point guard for the Rustlers (23-3, 5-0 in the Orange Empire Conference).

Brun, who normally plays all 40 minutes of a game, leads Golden West in assists, averaging five. But she doesn’t appear in the top 10 in any other Orange Empire Conference statistical category.

Brun, who is 5 feet 8, makes contributions in several areas.She had a career-high 16 rebounds as Golden West held off Saddleback, 54-48, last Wednesday.

“It doesn’t bother me that I don’t score that much,” said Brun, 20. “I prefer to work on my defense and rebounding. If you are only a scorer, you can have an off-night. But defense and rebounding will always be there.”

She is averaging nine points, fourth-best on the team, and 6.3 rebounds. Brun has made 51 of 66 free throws for a team-best 77%.

“She’s one of the most under-rated players in the state,” Golden West Coach Dave Stricklin said. “She can do whatever we need. Some nights she can score and other nights she gets rebounds. Plus, with her experience, she is like having a coach on the floor.”

Burn actually gets a chance to work as a coach in another place. She is a lower-level assistant for the Ocean View High girls’ program. Brun played four years on the Ocean View varsity, the last two as a starter.

“It really helps me to be a coach,” Brun said. “You start to understand why (coaches) want you to do certain things in a certain way.”

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Women’s showdown: Golden West, the No. 1-ranked team in Southern California and the state’s No. 2 team, plays Fullerton (16-10, 4-1) at 7 tonight.

Golden West enters the game with a 22-game Orange Empire Conference winning streak.

Fullerton, relying on a balanced attack, has won three in a row and four of five, including a 60-54 upset of Cypress in overtime Friday. Cypress is ranked sixth in the state.

Cypress had posted a 66-57 victory over Fullerton in December in the Fullerton tournament.

“I think we have a legitimate shot, but you can’t play average and beat them,” Fullerton Coach Colleen Riley said of Golden West. “They know how to win--they do it year after year.”

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Men’s race: One game separates the top four teams as they prepare to play the last first-round game of the Orange Empire Conference schedule.

Saddleback (15-6, 5-1) and Riverside (19-5, 5-1) are tied for first and Fullerton (19-6, 4-2) and Irvine Valley (16-8, 4-2) are a game back. Irvine Valley travels to Saddleback in the key game today.

The game will feature two of the conference’s top scorers in Saddleback’s Tes Whitlock and Irvine Valley’s Rashad Wilson. Both are averaging 19.2 points.

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Zeroing in: Matt Kenney, a freshman guard at Cypress, is narrowing in on the college’s single season and career mark for three-point baskets.

Kenney has made 76 three-pointers this season, putting him two behind Mike Varos, who made 78 in the 1988-89 season.

Kenney, from Servite High School, also leads the team in scoring (14 points).