Breaking down Sacramento area’s top underclassmen in high school girls basketball playoffs
It looks like a youth movement has settled into the Sacramento-area girls basketball scene, but really this has become the norm.
It’s been tradition for decades locally that the top high school programs include freshmen or sophomores starting on varsity, impacting games with their skills and poise in performing beyond their years. They become promising first-year players, and then, quite often, four-year anchors.
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, which began Tuesday, include a host of stars who are just warming up.
Haley Smith of Liberty Ranch in Galt is an example. Her season included reaching the 1,000-career point and 500-career rebound milestone. That’s heady stuff for the 5-foot-10 sophomore guard who can lead the break, drive with either hand, is crafty in the lane with scoop shots, can hit 3-pointers, fire assists and defend with purpose.
And her best numbers beyond averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds were her 4.0 grades — perfection.
Smith and her gritty Hawks lost a crusher of a Division IV opener on Tuesday night to Sonora, 53-51 in double overtime, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Smith and seven of her teammates will be back for another run next season as will a host of other area underclassmen who are upping their game to extend their seasons. Liberty Ranch went 23-6 and won the Sierra Valley Conference, where Smith will likely be named MVP. She was a Bee All-Metro player as a freshman and may well be a four-year All-Metro player.
“She’s so good, so fundamentally sound, and I expect to keep seeing big things from her,” Liberty Ranch coach Josh Williams said. “She’ll continue to be a force. She’s physical, unselfish, smart. She will be a load. She’s a baller, a gamer, a lifer. When she’s done here, she’ll have a photo with her accomplishments on our wall here.”
A closer look at other area underclassmen starting in the postseason:
Nevaeh Butler, Monterey Trail
Bio: Center | 5-11 | Sophomore
Game: In a game big on shooting, bigs inside still matter, and Butler has done her part in averaging 7.3 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Division I Mustangs of the Elk Grove Unified.
Tasiana Carr, Franklin
Bio: Guard | 5-8 | Sophomore
Game: A second-year varsity player and her team’s best player this winter, Carr helped the D-I Wildcats of Elk Grove hit cruise control in winning the Delta League for just the second time in the 23-year history of the school, scoring 11.7 points and nabbing 5.3 rebounds.
Kamaria Charlo, Antelope
Bio: Guard | 5-6 | Sophomore
Game: A second-year varsity player, Charlo is averaging 8.5 points for the D-I darkhorse Titans who stormed through the Capital Valley Conference at 12-0. Her sophomore teammate, 6-foot guard Naomi Johnson, is averaging 7.5 points.
Janet Donkor, Valley Christian
Bio: Guard | 5-6 | Sophomore
Game: A second-year varsity starter, Donkor is averaging 16.1 points and can fill up a box score with production from all over. Her goal is to repeat as D-VI section champions.
Breahn Flood, Inderkum
Bio: Guard | 5-7 | Sophomore
Game: A key piece to the school’s best team in years, Flood averages 14.2 points for the D-I Tigers of the Natomas Unified School District, who are 22-6.
Kyla Friedrich, Sacramento Adventist
Bio: Guard | 5-7 | Freshman
Game: Averaging 8.3 points and 3.1 steals, Friedrich can impact a game on both ends of the floor for the Capitals of Carmichael, the No. 2 seed in the D-VI field.
Elena Ganyo, Woodland Christian
Bio: Guard | 5-5 | Freshman
Game: Scoring 10.5 points, grabbing 4.3 rebounds, making 2.0 assists and coming up with 3.1 steals a game is proof of Ganyo’s relentless effort for a 24-4 team with a 16-game winning streak, seeded second in D-V. Six-foot freshman teammate Siena Sorbello averages 9.4 points and 6.9 rebounds.
Savannah Grant, Rio Linda
Bio: Center | 6-1 | Freshman
Game: Just warming up for the Knights, seeded eighth in the D-III bracket. Grant is scoring 7.5 points and grabbing 10.1 rebounds for Rio Linda, co-champions of the Golden Empire League. Grant’s sophomore guard teammate Mariah Walton leads the team with 10.9 points per game. Another sophomore, LaRay Mitchell, leads the team in assists at 4.1.
Lauren Harris, Faith Christian
Bio: Guard | 5-11 | Sophomore
Game: She can do it all and has done it all, averaging an area-best 30.5 points, and she leads her Yuba City program with 14.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists for the D-VI top-seeded Lions. Harris averaged 27 points as a freshman on varsity. Teammate Presley, Berry, a sophomore guard, averages 15.9 points.
Loismary Justice, West Campus
Bio: Forward | 5-11 | Freshman
Game: Averaging 11.7 points and 9.6 rebounds, Justice lays down the law in the paint, runs the floor and wants to be great for the D-IV No. 7-seeded Warriors of the Sacramento City Unified School District. She has star potential, her coach John Langston says.
Isa Keidel, Lincoln
Bio: Forward | 5-10 | Sophomore
Game: A second-year varsity player, Keidel is averaging 13.2 points for the 22-4 Zebras, who are the No. 4 seed in the D-IV scramble.
Kate Myers, Pleasnt Grove
Bio: Guard | 5-10 | Freshman
Game: In her second varsity season, Myers contributes 15.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the D-I Eagles of Elk Grove.
Olivia Novi, Christian Brothers
Bio: Guard | 5-10 | Freshman
Game: The region’s top-scoring freshman at 14.2 points per game, Novi has played big for the championship-minded Falcons since the start. CB is the No. 3 seed in the D-III race.
Gisele Negueloua, Rocklin
Bio: Guard | 5-11 | Freshman
Game: Steady as she goes, Negeuloua scores 10.4 points, grabs 4.8 boards, makes 2.6 assists and comes up with 2.4 steals a game for the Thunder, seeded ninth in D-II.
Joy Omishakin, Christian Brothers
Bio: Forward | 5-10 | Sophomore
Game: Coach Shandyn Foster said Omishakin, a second-year varsity player, is a joy to coach as she averages 11.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.6 steals for a program seeking another section championship.
Abigail Pietz, Marysville
Bio: Guard | 5-11 | Sophomore
Game: Pietz is all about production. She scores 13.8 points, grabs 5.8 rebounds, makes 6.1 assists and comes up with 5.2 steals per game for an Indians program that won a share of its first league championship in 50 years. Marysville is the No. 2 seed on D-IV.
Gabby Sands, Bear River
Bio: | 5-11 | Freshman
Game: Sands is a vital cog for the storied Bruins of Lake of the Pines with averages of 8.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals. Bear River is the top seed in D-V.
Madalyn Sigrist, Colfax
Bio: Guard | 5-8 | Sophomore
Game: New to the program this season, Sigrist has fit right in with her 14.2 points per game scoring average to lead the defending section and Northern California champions. Colfax is the top seed in D-4.
Bianca Slone, Rocklin
Bio: Center | 6-1 | Sophomore
Game: A second-year varsity starter, Slone is a difficult chore to deal with in the paint, averaging 11.5 points and 8.2 rebounds for the Thunder of Placer County.
Caitlin Subejano, Cosumnes Oaks
Bio: Guard | 5-4 | Sophomore
Game: A second-year varsity player, Subejano has upped her scoring from 9.2 points last season to 16.8 for the darkhorse D-I Wolfpack, seeded 11th.
Daisy Throckmorton, McClatchy
Bio: Guard | 5-11 | Sophomore
Game: The storied Lions are led by upperclassmen stars Nina Cain and Norret Lewis, but the future includes Throckmorton, averaging 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds for the No. 4 D-I seed.
Asia Washington, Grant
Bio: Center | 5-11 | Freshman
Game: Her 10.9 scoring average is second on the team to senior guard Samaya Dillard’s 15.0. Washington leads the Pacers with 11.4 rebounds, and she’s just scratching the surface of her potential.
▪ Who’d we miss? Send us an assist with insight of varsity starting freshmen or sophomores in the playoffs to jdavidson@sacbee.com.
