2012-13 Warrior Basketball

SEYL Girls Basketball Preview

Posted by Zach Ewing, The Bakersfield Californian, on December 20, 2012

SOUTHEAST YOSEMITE LEAGUE - Coaches’ poll

1. Garces 24 (4)
2. Tehachapi 20 (1)
3. North 16 (1)
4. Foothill 14
5. Highland 11
6. East 5 (3)

(Coaches were asked between Dec. 5-11 to rank their league but were not allowed to rank their own team. Tallying was done on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis.)

Notes: For the third consecutive year, Garces has no more than eight players on its varsity roster, but for the third straight year, all eight are talented. Rachol West will do most of the scoring, but her little sister, freshman Celeste West, is 6-foot-2 and already a big factor in the paint. ... According to MaxPreps, Celeste West leads all freshmen nationally in rebounding at 15.2 rpg. ... Tehachapi comes over to the SEYL after a runner-up finish in the South Sequoia League. Rheanna Cowee and Danielle Simpson are do-it-all type players and have enough size to contend with the West sisters in what should be two important Garces-Tehachapi matchups. ... North lost nine seniors from a co-championship team a year ago, but coach Kendra Weisser will teach the new Stars her aggressive, full-court defensive style. McKenzie Talbot is a long-range threat and Kayla Shadden exemplifies North's hard-nosed style. ... Perhaps no team in Kern County will feel a graduation loss like Foothill will feel that of LaShay Alexander, a first-team All-Area player who carried the Trojans to a 12-11 season. This year's Foothill team features just four juniors or seniors. ... Four different Highland players are averaging at least six points for first-year coach Sarah Porter, who led the frosh-soph team to a winning record last year. ... Ed Quijalvo steps into a head coaching role for the first time at East, where the longtime assistant is optimistic about the Blades' chances to be more competitive. East is 7-61 over the past four-plus seasons, but Grijalvo hopes improvement will come on the defensive end and with 3-point specialist Brooke Gutierrez.

Quotable: "We're all a little weary of Garces and Tehachapi. The rest of us would like to see us challenge for that two spot, I think."

--- Highland Coach Sarah Porter