Who is the favorite to win CCC in girls hoops? It looks like a wide open race
Atwater girls basketball coach J.R. Davis had a tough time picking a favorite to win the Central California Conference.
“It’s kind of weird,” Davis said. “It’s almost like we’re all equal. It’s hard to say.”
El Capitan coach Tyler Rogers agreed.
“I would say it’s more wide open than before,” he said. “Merced returns everyone. Atwater has a good foundation and good athletes. Patterson has athletes too. There’s a few teams who could be the favorite. We’ll see how it shakes out.
“I feel we could be in the mix too.”
If you value experience, Merced is the team to beat.
The Bears have 10 seniors, including three three-year varsity players in Sierra Smith, Amari Stamps and Kaitlynn Perez. Khya Martin, Sierra Rivas and Janessa Jones were all called up for the playoffs their sophomore years so have more than two years of varsity experience.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a team with 10 seniors before,” Merced coach Art Solis said. “Atwater had six seniors last year and they did a lot of work in league. Our players have playoff experience, they’ve played in big league games. Hopefully our basketball IQ has gone up with all the big games.”
Patterson also returns the bulk of their players and is off to a 9-4 start. Tigers coach Elizabeth Tolleson played for Merced College coach Allen Huddleston and always seems to have her teams contending for titles.
Atwater is the defending champs but graduated five of their top six scorers from last year, including Sun-Star Player of the Year Kelsey Valencia.
“It seems like we have a different high scorer every night,” Davis said. “I’m confused. We just go out and play and we’ll see who scores that game.”
Golden Valley is off to a 10-6 start under new coach Hector Nava, who moved across town after coaching the Merced boys for the past eight seasons.
Buhach Colony has won eight straight games to enter league with a 9-4 record.
Then you have El Capitan (7-7), who has one of the top players in the league in Caly Curran, who transferred from Buhach Colony after last season. The Gauchos also have 6-foot-4 Sierra Alvarez, who is eligible to play on Friday against Golden Valley, after sitting out the start of the season after transferring from Los Banos.
“I’d probably lean toward experience if I had to pick somebody,” Rogers said. “Merced has everyone back. They’re athletic and talented. The way I broke it down to our girls is we’re good enough to beat anybody in league, but we can also lose to anybody in league.
“That’s how wide open it is.”
Friday’s Schedule
Golden Valley at El Capitan
Buhach Colony at Patterson
Central Valley at Merced
