Sophomore star Nina Cain emerging as next great player for McClatchy High girls basketball

Nina Cain is the next tall order on full display for the McClatchy Lions.

She is a 6-foot-1 sophomore do-all talent for the most storied girls basketball program in the Sacramento City Unified School District, a rising national recruit who sports academic numbers to go along with her gaudy game statistics. Cain sports a 4.2 grade-point average, loading up on honors English and calculus, and then investing much of her “spare time” in her beloved sport.

Cain is averaging 19.4 points and 9.5 rebounds for The Bee’s No. 3-ranked team. She had 23 points and 12 rebounds Friday night in a Metro League showdown against No. 4 Monterey Trail in Elk Grove. The Lions prevailed 64-50 with Cain proving to be a load inside, or on the break, or passing or shooting, and her teammates applied pressure defense, quick hands, all-out hustle and plenty of scoring.

Senior guard Tamaria Rumph scored 21 points and sophomore guard Norret Lewis had 10 to move McClatchy to 17-5 overall and 7-0 in the Metro in inching the program closer to another conference championship. This is a program that also has visions of making a title run in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs next month.

The focal point for opponents starts with Cain. Teams can front her, back her, swarm her and attack her, but she has remained undaunted, knowing she doesn’t have to burden the load by herself. But in crunch time, she’s more than up for the task.

“Nina can be this area’s next Vicki Baugh,” McClatchy coach Dave Whitsett said, referring to the five-star 2000s Bee All-Metro sensation from Sacramento High who played at Tennessee and will have her jersey retired next month with the Dragons. In other words: Greatness.

“I saw Nina play a lot of summer basketball,” Whitsett said. “She looks ordinary when she first goes out there, but she’s special. She’ll be a five-star player. Nina’s going to get her points, and she gets hers off inside plays, rebounds, passes. Outstanding player.”

Cain is striving for greatness. It’s in her family genes, including a host of football players. Her grandfather, George Brown, was an All-American track and field star at UCLA who ranked as the world’s top long jumper from 1951-53. He competed in the 1952 Olympic Games.

Cain embraces her family as they do her. Her parents and grandmother and a host of others attend games, proud to the point of endless cheer. They’re the ones beaming with pride after games, pointing her way as if to suggest, “Yep. That’s our girl.”

Cain takes none of her success and recruiting interest for granted. She works tirelessly on her game.

“I’ve come a long way as a player,” Cain said. “Every day, I try to put work in, to get better. I get up at 5 a.m. to get shots up in the gym. After practice, I’ll shoot. I get home and watch game film. Basketball means so much to me, my whole life, since I was 4 or 5 when I first started playing.”

Cain doesn’t want to be known outside of her team as just a big girl who can do only big-girl things. She’s tall, yes, but she’s gifted and skilled, able to handle the ball, whip passes and score inside and out. It’s led to college scholarship interest from the Pac-12 to the Big West and Northwestern, among others. Cain dabbles in graphic design, ponders clothing design ideas and draws by the hour to tap into what she calls “my creative side.”

Basketball is her release, and she’s quite good at it.

“I like to do everything in this game,” Cain said. “I like to bring the ball up, make passes, play defense, get rebounds, score.”

She’s also a big fan of her team. McClatchy has lost to just one section team, No. 2 Antelope, while taking on a challenging schedule that has included state-ranked teams.

“I love my team,” Cain said. “We’re like sisters. We’ve come a long way, too. I have faith is us. When we mesh, when we play the way we’re capable of, we can be the best team in Sacramento.”

Longtime Lions coach Jeff Ota said his young team grew up in a San Diego tournament last month. A year after going winless in the event, McClatchy went 2-2, losing one game in overtime and another in the final seconds.

“After that tournament, I thought, ‘Oh, my, we can be pretty good,’” Ota said. “Our girls are learning. We’re getting better. They’re starting to get it. It’s a great group to coach. They’re athletic and they play hard.”

That includes Cain, the program’s best player since Gigi Garcia earned Bee Player of the Year honors in 2015 following a CIF state Division I championship season. A 6-2 forward, Garcia went on to Washington of the Pac-12. Ota was an assistant coach to Jessica Kunisaki for the 2015 state title team, and Kunisaki is back at her alma mater.

Other ex-Lions stars now on the Lions bench as assistants include Jordan Cruz and Jackie Wada. They understand the McClatchy Way, which is to compete to the point of fatigue.

No exceptions. Even the star players have to push it to the limit, and then some.

“Nina works really hard, and she’s focused, will do the extra training,” Ota said. “I don’t have to tell her to work. She’s built differently. She gets it.”