Senior moment

Changing schools can be a frightening prospect, but as she prepared to transfer from Cardinal Mooney to Sarasota High as a junior, Camille Giardina had one thing on her side: experience.

On the basketball court, she had already established herself as a standout player. Off the court, her family had moved from place to place often enough to prepare Giardina for the process: first from Connecticut to Maine, then to Florida from Maine. By comparison, the 3-mile journey from Mooney to Sarasota might have felt like an easy transition.

“It’s definitely completely different than what I expected,” Giardina said of her time at Sarasota. “But I was used to changing and adapting.”

As a junior last season, she stepped into a team that was short on experience of its own. The Lady Sailors had graduated seven seniors the year before, leaving expectations up in the air. That helped ease Giardina’s transition into a new environment and put everyone on equal footing in her first year.

“We all were new last year,” Giardina said. “Nobody had pull over one another.”

As it turned out, it helped the team, too. Sarasota went 26-5 en route to the Class 7A state semifinals, with Coach Rob Jutras admiring his team’s ability to charge through any unfamiliarity.

“We came together nicely last year as a very young team,” Jutras said

Now in her senior season, Giardina is settling into a leadership role with the 19-3 Lady Sailors. She’s setting the tone with her play — putting up team highs of 16.6 points per game, 4.8 assists per game and 3.5 steals per game — and her attitude, earning a second straight selection as team captain.

“She’s definitely our floor leader who really has to do a little bit of everything,” Jutras said. “She has to be able to put the ball in the hoop for us, keep her young teammates together, know all the plays, has to defend.”

For her part Giardina is all business, mincing no words when discussing her focus on improving on last year’s success and capturing a state title.

“It being my senior year itself is pure motivation,” Giardina said. “It's my last time around, and I want to go out on top more than ever.”

The group started the season with a few hiccups, coming out of the gates 3-2. But, thanks in part to Giardina helping establish the tone in practice, the Lady Sailors have been able to right the ship while incorporating new faces into their rotation.

“She’s a great kid and a role model for the younger players,” Jutras said.

The team is still relatively young, with just four upperclassmen and two seniors on the roster. And yet, after the 2013-14 run, Giardina believes one of Sarasota’s greatest strengths is experience. Seven of the eight players from last year’s team return this year, and she said it’s allowed players to settle into their roles and develop.

“After going through what we did last year, it prepares us for numerous situations that most players have not experienced,” she said

After reaching 1,000 career points in her sophomore year at Mooney, Giardina is now just 25 points away from 2,000. Although that mark is on her radar, she indicated she’s not going to bask in the glow of personal success for too long.

“Once I achieve that, I’m going to have to set a new goal and go after it,” she said.

As a senior, she’s currently in the process of evaluating her college options. She plans to continue playing, but she’s also preparing for a career after graduation — ideally one that pairs her interest in business with her passion for design.

With more than three years of play behind her, Giardina’s time as a Florida high school player is scattered with milestones and highlights big and small — sinking a half-court shot at the halftime buzzer against Gulfport Boca Ciega earlier this year is a recent standout, she says.

Although she hopes the best is still to come, she’s already able to look back on her career thus far and offer some perspective.

“It flies by,” Giardina said. “You have to make every moment count.”

Camille Giardina
Senior point guard, Sarasota High School
Total points: 1,975

Points per game: 16.6

Assists per game: 4.8

Steals per game: 3.5

Team record: 19-3