Freshman athletes don’t usually begin their high school careers on their respective varsity teams, unless they are exceptional. Bonita Vista High’s shooting and point guard, Andrea Cavazos is one such exceptional athlete. She excelled the last two years for Bonita Middle School and impressed high school coach Wayne Wooten enough for him to place her immediately on his varsity team once she enrolled as a freshman at BVHS.

“Andrea has very good ball handling skills and she learned her basketball from her brother who played here a few years ago. We are looking forward to her leadership. I think she is going to be amazing. Her weakness, if any, will be in her shooting. As a freshman, it may be difficult for her to run the team and tell 17 or 18 year olds what to do. We felt that by bringing her up to varsity she would gain valuable experience learning from our starting point guard, Nadia Cruz.”

Cavazos is part of a freshman class that Wooten considers one of the most talented to arrive at Bonita Vista High in recent memory. He hopes she will eventually evolve into the engine that drives this team for the next few years. Despite her age she has plenty of experience to draw upon.

“My mom thought I was very shy when I was younger so she got me involved in basketball when I was six, thinking that would help,” Cavazos said.

It had the desired effect socially and also sparked an interest in basketball that remains burning brightly to this day.

“At this point they are using me as Nadia’s back-up, so if she gets hurt (or winded) then I go in for her.”

This year is more or less a learning year for her, but by next year her role and playing time will be expanded. Having been a big fish in a little pond the last two years she now finds herself as a little fish in a bigger pond. At times, it can be a bit intimidating.

“(Playing against older athletes) puts a lot of pressure on you, but after a while you get used to it. I think it will help me later on in the long run.”

Cavazos has pretty much mastered the art of dribbling with both hands, has developed fine passing skills and has become a solid defensive player. Now she needs to create more scoring opportunities for herself so that her point total will be more in line with her assist total.

Playing on a team without seniors will be a disadvantage this year, but despite that hardship both Cavazos and Wooten believe this team will be much better than the one that struggled last year. Once Cavazos and the talented group of freshman that she is part of mature this team could compete for a league title and beyond. For now however, patience and hard work are what is needed most.