SANTA ROSA, CA – It seems like only yesterday that the all girls Ursuline-Santa Rosa closed and Cardinal Newman welcomed girls for the 2011-12 school year, and at the same time named star 2003 Ursuline graduate Monica Mertle as the head coach of the new Cardinals girls program.
It took Mertle a couple of years to build the program, but since the 2013-14 season the bright young Newman coach, whom many consider to be one of the top coaches in Northern California, has led the Cardinals to six North Bay League championships, a 2017 CIF North Coast Section Division 4 championship, a 2016 state CIF Division IV championship, and 88 straight victories against NBL opponents after a 77-16 victory over Windsor on Saturday night.
The last game before Christmas also includes Mertle’s now annual Christmas alumni celebration that acknowledges her players over the past eight seasons that come home for the Holidays.
Eight of Mertle’s players came down to center court at halftime to be recognized. The veteran of the group was Helen Moses-Happ, a 2012 graduate and member of Mertle’s first team that went on to UC Santa Cruz. Next was 2015 graduate Megan McConnell, and then 2017 graduate Hailey “the Chief” Vice-Neat, now at Seattle University, 2017 alum Lauren Walker, now at the University of Portland, 2017 grad and current Chapman University junior Taylor Hextrum, 2018 graduates Tal Webb and Arie Searcy, at Cal Maritime Academy and Regis University, respectively, and 2109 graduate Avery Cargill, currently at Hawaii Pacific.
“It’s always great to have the alumni back in our gym,” Mertle said. “We haven’t been a coed school for long so it doesn’t make sense to have an alumni game since most of our alumni are still playing in college. But having the opportunity to get everyone back together around the holidays is very meaningful for our program.”
“Our program has been built by some amazing young women, who in addition to talent, have demonstrated unwavering love and support for one another and their school,” Mertle continued. “I am grateful for the relationships I’ve had the opportunity to build over the years and incredibly proud of the intelligent, successful and strong young women they are today.”
While Mertle’s former players took center court, it was current senior and UC Santa Barbara-signed senior guard Anya Choice that has taken center stage.
She barely broke a sweat in the running clock victory over Windsor but with 19 points Choice added to her school record scoring mark that now stands at 1,671 career points.
During the Cardinals run to the championship of the Paris Twins Classic at Piedmont that concluded on December 14, Choice not only broke the previous high water mark for boys or girls at Newman of the 1,583 career points of 2018 graduate Maiya Flores, she also broke the record for three-pointers in a game when she drained nine treys to break Flores record of eight in a 39-point performance that also broke the school single game scoring record she set with 38 points last season.
“When I first came to Newman I looked up to all the girls ahead of me,” Choice said. “I knew I was capable of reaching these milestones, but I also knew how much work it would take to get there. Becoming the all time leading scorer ahead of Maiya, a player I respect so much is an honor .”
Newman will take a 10-0 record into the Platinum Division of the West Coast Jamboree with an opener against Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth, but if Mertle and her girls are going to make some noise against a field including nationally ranked teams like Sierra Canyon, Mater Dei-Santa Ana and Archbishop Mitty-San Jose, they’ll need a lot more than the efforts of Choice.
They’ll need to shoot and defend well, and Choice will be looking at facing off against either Duke-bound Vanessa De Jesus or Texas-committed Ashley Chevalier, but she has seen that level of players, and in fact held her own last year at the St. Mary’s MLK Showcase against Washington-committed Te-hina Paopao of La Jolla Country Day, and Paopao and Country Day just beat Sierra Canyon in the championship game of the top division of the Nike TOC in Phoenix.
“Going into the West Coast Jamboree I’m looking forward to competing against the top players and teams in California, and proving that my team and I can perform at that level,” Choice said.
To perform at that level Mertle’s girls will be challenged to the limit, and besides Choice, players like seniors Christina Bacci, Emma Nordby and 6-2 post Liz Chambers, and junior Aysia Dural, plus junior Mariah Harris and Reese Searcy off the bench, will need to be at their best.
Mertle has the right philosophy for the task ahead.
“We’re looking forward to the opportunity to compete against the top teams in the West Coast Jamboree,” Mertle said.
