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All-Desert Empire League girls' basketball: Knights, Saints rack up honors

shad powers, palm springs desert sun
·2 min read

The Desert Empire League girls' basketball title came down to one possession.

Xavier Prep's Genna Wienecke made a clutch 3-pointer to lift the Saints past Shadow Hills and into a tie for the league title at 9-1.

The Knights rebounded from that loss to string together a bunch of wins and make it to the school's first CIF-SS championship game.

Shadow Hills and Xavier Prep were the class of the DEL this year, and it's no surprise that they shared most of the postseason accolades.

More: The first-ever All-Desert Sun Girls' Basketball Team revealed

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Genna Wienecke of Xavier Prep shoots the ball against Aquinas in Palm Desert, Calif., on March 30, 2021.
Genna Wienecke of Xavier Prep shoots the ball against Aquinas in Palm Desert, Calif., on March 30, 2021.

Wienecke and Shadow Hills' Sonia Urbina shared league MVP honors. Urbina was also named The Desert Sun's girls' basketball player of the year, and both were on the All-Desert Sun first team.

Like their stars, the coaches shared Coach of the Year honors as well as Xavier Prep's Thad Bosley and Shadow Hills' Tim Britton took home the honor. It was Britton's debut season.

The co-MVPs each had two teammates on the all-DEL first team. Carla Hyatt and Victoria Hyatt made it for the Knights and Amoree Ferrel and Rosalee Gutierrez made it from the Saints.

Shadow Hills' Sonia Urbina (23) takes a shot while guarded by Trinity Classical Academy's Ella Stepan (15) during the second quarter of their CIF-SS semifinal game at Shadow Hills High School in Indio, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022.
Shadow Hills' Sonia Urbina (23) takes a shot while guarded by Trinity Classical Academy's Ella Stepan (15) during the second quarter of their CIF-SS semifinal game at Shadow Hills High School in Indio, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022.

The rest of the all-league first team consisted of a pair of Blackhawks, the third-place team in the standings, as Elizabeth Cota-Gaxiola and Giovanna Espinoza joined the Knights and Saints stars.

All-DEL girls' basketball

MVP: Sonia Urbina, Shadow Hills and Genna Wienecke of Xavier Prep

Coach of the year: Tim Britton Shadow Hills and Thad Bosley of Xavier Prep

FIRST TEAM

Elizabeth Cota-Gaxiola, LQ (12)

Giovanna Espinoza, LQ (12)

Carla Hyatt, SH (12)

Victoria Hyatt, SH (10)

Sonia Urbina, SH (12)

Amoree Ferrell, XP (10)

Rosalee Gutierrez, XP (9)

Genna Wienecke, XP (11)

SECOND TEAM

Ann Marie Patterson, LQ (11)

Jaida Riley, LQ (11)

Kailey Ott, PD (11)

Haylei Lee, PS (12)

Amora Williams, PS (11)

Ariany Munoz, RM (12)

Julisa Lang, SH (12)

Ashleigh Schein, XP (10)

HONORABLE MENTION

Kylee Borgen 12th LQ (12)

Veanna Galvan 12th LQ (12)

Catherine King 11th PD

Ava Philson 12th PD

BrookeLynn Colbert 12th PS

Jackelin Ramos 11th PS

Amirah Kraft 12th RM

Amaya Johnson 11th RM

Megan Martinez 11th SH

Adonai Oudinarath 12th SH

Logan Harris 12th XP

Ashley Wilkins 12th XP

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: All-Desert Empire League girls' basketball: Knights, Saints rack up honors