Former El Paso basketball standouts Payton Fields, Sonia Sato sign with Division I schools
Two former El Paso high school girls basketball standouts will continue their careers at the Division I level.
Pebble Hills graduate Payton Fields will play for St. Bonaventure, which competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference and is located in Allegany, New York.
Fields, a guard, played for two years at Western Nebraska Community College and is one of seven players from the program to sign with a Division I school for the 2022-23 season.
She played a key role in helping the team to a 30-3 record and a spot in the Final Four at the NJCAA National Tournament this past season.
Fields shot 81.5 percent from the free throw line, averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds a game. At the national tournament, she scored 10 points in a win against Wabash College and 13 points in a win against South Plains College.
"I wanted to find a place with a culture that aligned with hard work and playing for each other," Fields said. "I'm excited about the opportunity. With the transfer portal, recruiting for me picked up late, but things worked out and I'm looking forward to playing at the Division I level. I loved playing at Western Nebraska. It was a great learning experience and the culture at Western Nebraska was amazing. We had a strong team bond and we played for each other and pushed each other to be the best we could be."
Former Bel Air basketball guard Sonia Sato will play for Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. Presbyterian College competes in the Big South Conference.
The 6-foot Sato played this past season at McCook (Nebraska) Community College after transferring from Wayland Baptist. Sato, who is a former El Paso Times' All-City performer, averaged 9.7 points and 7.4 rebounds a game for McCook. Her best scoring game was 23 points against North Platte Community College.
"I continued to work hard and believed in myself after moving over to the junior college level," Sato said. "I try to give my best effort each game and I felt over the course of this past season, I was able to improve in so many areas of my game. To have the chance to compete at the Division I level is a dream come true. I can't wait to get started."
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Felix F. Chavez may be reached at 915-546-6167; fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Former El Paso high school basketball standouts sign with schools
