We’ve passed the halfway point in January, so league play is well underway. Archbishop Mitty and Pinewood are, not surprisingly, sitting atop their respective leagues. Menlo-Atherton, Scotts Valley, and Palo Alto are also ranked in the MaxPreps Central Coast Section Top 10.
Mitty (11-3, 3-0) is the best team in the CCS’s best league, the West Catholic Athletic League. Five of the top ten hail from the WCAL. The Monarchs are rolling over their league competition, winning by an average of 41 points thus far. Mitty’s schedule is harder to analyze than most because the team has played seven out-of-state teams. Two of the losses have come to such teams, with St. Mary’s-Stockton being the exception. Mitty stayed competitive with the dominating Rams, losing 86-73, and picked up wins against a pair of Golden State elites (Brookside Christian and Carondelet). The three highest scorers from last season – Heleyna Hill, Madeline Holland, and Jahnay Anderson —- are all averaging less this year. Only one player averages more than 10 a game (Holland, at 10.7). Junior Tahlia Garza, sophomores Karisma Ortiz and Krissy Miyahara, and freshman Haley Jones have all been solid contributors to shore up that difference.
Coach Sue Phillips loves Garza’s “scoring on the blocks, cleaning up the boards, and providing a shot blocking presence in the paint,” adds that Ortiz “has a tremendous basketball IQ and has a well-versed skill set to score or set up her teammates,” and calls Miyahara “a high energy player that brings great intensity on the defensive end and will take and make the big shot.”
Pinewood (12-2, 3-0) looked bright for the holidays after wins against both Bishop O’Dowd and Salesian, and their excellence has continued into WBAL-Foothill play. Recently the Panthers put away Eastside College Prep, usually their toughest league competitor, 57- 37. Pinewood has soldiered on despite the loss of promising sophomore Stella Kailahi, who was felled by injury over the summer and will miss the entire season. Much like Mitty, a balanced team effort has been at the heart of their success, as is tradition with Doc Scheppler’s squads.
Menlo-Atherton (14-2, 4-0) is dominating the PAL-South, flat-lining each opponent by at least 20 points. Greer Hoyem, the Bears’ sophomore center, scored a combined 33 points in two games last week, while fellow soph Carly McLanahan struck from downtown five times in one of them.
Scotts Valley (11-3, 4-0) is the only team in the SCCAL to hand a league defeat to St. Francis-Watsonville and Soquel. Point guard Nikiya Bechtle is the leading scorer at 18 points per game and also averages around four each of assists, rebounds, and steals. She is backed by Sam Boyle and by Grace Giguiere, who averaged three points per game as a sophomore, missed her entire junior season, and now chips in 13 points per game.
Palo Alto (9-6, 2-2) is an anomaly, being ranked three spots above Los Gatos (10-4, 3-0) but trailing by 1 1/2 games in the SCVAL-De Anza. The Wildcats topped the Vikings 57-51 in the first season game, but Palo Alto’s schedule in December included games with Carondelet, Valley Christian, and St. Francis-Mountain View, all losses by six or less. Los Gatos lost narrowly to a couple of NCS teams — Tamalpais and Castro Valley — who are having notable seasons.
PLAYER FOCUS: CAITLIN KEDING
Valley Christian (12-3, 1-2) is having its best season since 2009-10, when it went 23-7 overall and 8-4 in the WCAL. A key to the team’s success is leading scorer Caitlin Keding, a 5-foot-11 junior who averages 15.1 points per game. Coach Chris McSwain calls her a “truly gifted player” who is “one of the best shooters in the section.”
Keding's experience with the sport began in third grade. “I like the team aspect because it’s like having another family behind you to support you and help you get better,” Keding said. “I like the competitive aspect because it’s fun to compete and give it what you have and try to win.”
Keding had a key role on last year’s squad as well, but with the graduation of Sami Oliver and Cassi Orth, she had the opportunity to excel.
“I try to welcome the role of being a leader but I’m still figuring out different ways to lead," she said.
McSwain has seen her game grow over the years.
“When she came in she was only a shooter,” McSwain said. “She expanded her game as a threat to score from anywhere on the floor. She’s picked up her defensive effort. She understands what her role is for our team and embraces it.”
He also said she’s gotten stronger.
Keding likes her “basketball IQ, ability to score the ball, and court vision,” while wanting to improve her rebounding and defense.
STAT CHECK
Not every team keeps stats, but among those that do it’s interesting to note that of the top 13 scorers right now, only three are seniors (Iimar’i Thomas, Sacred Heart Cathedral; Nikiya Bechtle, Scotts Valley; Jenevee Pritchard, Overfelt). The top honor belongs to Jordan Thompson, a junior from Harker. Two sophomores (Kayla Tahaafe, Eastside College Prep; Tatiana Reese, Woodside Priory) and a freshman (Ila Lane, Woodside Priory) are also in the top 13, while the rest are juniors.
Eight players, topped by Ugochi Anudokem of Homestead at 13.2, average at least 10 rebounds per game. Jordyn Enos of North Salinas leads in assists, at 5.1. Gunderson’s Danielle Gezzi heads the steals list with 6.4 per game. And Jaden Anderson out of Leigh records a leading 5.5 blocks per contest.
