When Archbishop Mitty-San Jose junior star Hunter Hernandez went down last July at the End of the Trail AAU tournament in Oregon with a serious knee injury, there were those that were predicting a drop-off this season with the graduation of Ms. All Everything Haley Jones and the return of Hernandez uncertain.
Not every analyst felt that way. Clay Kallam, who does the Maxpreps Xcellent 25 national rankings said prior to the beginning of the season that “Mitty is still the best team in Northern California even without Hernandez.”
Coach Sue Phillips took her Monarchs to the Nike TOC where they opened the Smith Division with a win over Florida top 10 Miami Country Day, and then followed that up in the TOC’s top division with a win over Nevada No. 1 Centennial-Las Vegas. Mitty lost to California No. 1 La Jolla Country Day and then to Maryland No. 2 Riverdale Baptist in the third-place game, but they did it without Hernandez and with fellow junior standout Marley Langi playing on a strained Achilles.
From there Mitty went to the Platinum Division of the West Coast Jamboree with Hernandez cheering her teammates on along with Langi, who Phillips held out of the Jamboree. The deep Monarchs led by another junior standout, Olivia Williams, couldn’t beat Mater Dei-Santa Ana in a 47-41 semifinal loss, but in the third-place game the Prep2Prep Central Coast Section No. 1 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 3 ranked Monarchs blew out P2P North Coast Section No. 1 St. Joseph Notre Dame in a 75-39 victory.
Since then Langi has returned and Mitty has won 11-straight games since the Mater Dei loss, including another big win over St. Joseph Notre Dame and a 20-point win over an NCS No. 4 Bishop O’Dowd team that has a win over a Rosary-Fullerton that has a split with Mater Dei.
It had been rumored since the Jamboree, where Hernandez looked like she could take the court that in fact she might return this season. We did receive a January 1 text from Phillips that also referred to Langi at the time. “Both are currently practicing under the return to play protocol. Only time will tell.”
Langi returned to limited action in the O’Dowd victory but other than that there had been no news. However, it came as no surprise when we received a cryptic text message from Phillips last Saturday that in reality wasn’t that hard to decipher.
“A certain someone is going to take the floor in tonight’s game, :)” Phillips texted, including the smiley face.
Indeed Hernandez took the floor in a 67-29 West Catholic Athletic League romp over St. Francis-Mountain View but she only played 11 minutes and didn’t score. On Wednesday, and in another WCAL shellacking at cross-town Valley Christian in a 72-36 victory, Hernandez saw about the same amount of playing time.
Obviously the next question was did you score? The interview was over the phone so we couldn’t see her face but we’re sure “Hundo” as she’s know at Mitty, must have had that huge grin because of her sheepish answer.
“I made two free-throws,” Hernandez said after a pause.
The fact that she’s back on the court is a testament to the work Hernandez has put into rehabilitating herself. The initial assessment after she injured the right knee was that she would not play this season.
“The original timeline was to go as hard as possible in my rehab but not to play in actual games until AAU starts in April,” Hernandez remarked
“At first a lot of it was getting my range of motion,” explained Hernandez about the rehabilitation process. “Then it was stability. Next was building up the strength in my leg and then agility, quickness and cutting.”
The medical folks may have pushed Hernandez return to live action out to April, but Hunter had other ideas right from the start.
“From the beginning I felt waiting until AAU started was the maximum time frame and that it was a long time,” Hernandez said. “All along I felt I would be back sooner than April.”
As time went on things changed.
“My rehab went really well and I was really progressing,” Hunter continued. “Everything felt strong and stable. Things were going so well that playing in games this season seemed within reach.”
Now that Hernandez has gotten the green light the question is can she be a force down the stretch. Phillips doesn’t look like she’ll need Hernandez in WCAL action and maybe not even in the CCS Open Division where with or without the second leading scorer on last year’s team Mitty is a prohibitive favorite. But in the CIF Open Division that may not be the case.
“My progress has been pretty good, and obviously I want to play more, but I realize it’s important to save it for the end of the season and not get banged around,” Hernandez said
Right now Phillips will continue to limit her time and had this to say about how effective she thinks Hernandez can be going forward.
“From a productivity point only time will tell,” responded Phillips. “Our priority is Hunter’s health and well-being, and that includes her playing time. But I will acknowledge that Hunter’s sheer presence on the floor makes us immediately better, and that’s regardless of minutes played and points scored. Her basketball acumen and leadership skills significantly impact our team.”
All the local naysayers prior to the beginning of the season that had dropped Mitty from the top spot in the Bay Area rankings are starting to come around. All you have to do is look at the competitive equity resume of Mitty and what they did without Hernandez and Langi, whose absences had an effect on all three losses of the 18-3 Monarchs record.
The bottom line is with Langi back at almost full strength, and Hernandez progressing, and with Williams, senior Ashley Hiraki and junior Sydney Bourland, plus others contributing like they have all season, by the time March rolls around Mitty looks like they can beat anyone in California.
Phillips currently has 710 career coaching victories and she’s led Mitty to six CIF state championships, but in four years with Jones and some other great players she’s had since the CIF went to an Open Division in 2013, the closest Phillips and her girls have gotten to an elusive CIF Open Division state championship was a heartbreaking runner-up finish to Clovis West-Fresno in the 2017 title game.
Can Hernandez and her Monarchs teammates finally lead Mitty to the Promised Land?
“Hunter’s presence on the floor certainly helps our chances, but with respect to her basketball productivity we don’t set a floor or ceiling. We will trust in Hunter and support her process in whatever that might be or look like,” Phillips said.
“We play a tough non-league schedule to prepare just for that possibility. From the beginning of the season that’s what the goal is, and it’s always in the back of our minds,” was Hernandez’ answer.
“The goal is always to win (a state Open title) whether I’m playing or not,” Hernandez continued. “We need everyone to be healthy for us to win. It’s always a team effort and never one person.”
It might not be about one person, and it never is at Mitty, even when Jones was doing her thing, but if Hernandez can give Mitty a boost in any way shape or form, those analysts that think Mitty can beat anyone in the state may very well be correct, but the journey has really just begun and Mitty, with or without Hernandez, still has to prove themselves.
“It’s flattering,” Phillips said about those that feel her Monarchs can beat anyone in California now that she has her team intact. “But with all due respect it doesn’t mean a thing. We have to prove it on the court and we don’t want it any other way. Go Monarchs.”
Flattery aside. If Hernandez and provide some contributions with leadership and basketball acumen, and her play on the court, Mitty may have the spark it needs to finally win a CIF Open Division championship.
We’ll find out soon enough. Stay tuned.
