Girls basketball (5-4) began its preseason on Nov. 17 with Pacific Coast League games commencing Jan. 6. The 2024-2025 season created history for the program, after the team became both state and CIF semifinalists. With the majority of the team returning, they hope for a better season.
The team is led by three seniors: shooting guard Kara Niho, point guard Maddy Nguyen and post player Amelia Booth. These seniors have been vital to the development of the younger players, according to head coach Brian Barham.
“The best part about this team is how well they work together,” Barham said. “A lot of these guys grew up together. They’ve been friends for a long time, and that’s probably what they do best: work together. That’s what’s fun about watching them play.”
To continue the annual tradition of travel invitationals, the team traveled to Hawaii during Thanksgiving break to compete in the Moanalua PEEK tournament, winning two out of three games. The team usually travels to Las Vegas for the Vegas Classic tournament, but this year, Hawaii was chosen to change things up, creating new opportunities and experiences for the team.
“This is the first time we’re going somewhere that isn’t Vegas, so it’s super exciting,” Niho said. “So we’re going to be playing some teams that we’ve never seen before, which is gonna be fun, and in the team rooms, that’s when we make some of the most memories.”
Travel invitationals play a huge role in team bonding, and a change in destination this year helped the girls grow closer than ever. With the team mostly composed of upperclassmen, many underclassmen are encouraged to play with more seasoned players. Players like point guard and sophomore starter Yuri Ha have grown significantly since last season, according to Niho.
“We lost some pretty big players from last year’s lineup who were starters,” Ha said. “Our team is trying to adjust and become stronger and well-rounded as a team, so that we can all contribute to the success of upcoming games. Communication on the court and working together is really what’s going to help us.”
The team hopes to advance further in CIF this year, beating their semifinalist record from the previous season. For the six seniors on the team, it is their last opportunity to leave their mark on the program.
“We’ve gotten even more aggressive on both sides of the ball,” Barham said. “We’ve always been an offensively aggressive program. What we’re doing defensively now is [applying] our aggressive style on the defensive side of the ball. I think that’s what I’m looking forward to the most: to see us play aggressively on both sides of the ball.”
