Moore helped Golden Valley become a winner

It’s a Wednesday afternoon and school has just let out at Golden Valley High. The rest of the basketball players have left the gym, but Stephanie Moore isn’t ready to go home.

Golden Valley coach Matt Thissen sets up a shooting machine so she can take more shots. Later, she’ll head to the weight room to work out with Cougars strength and conditioning coach Marcello Martinelli.

“I don’t know what else to do without basketball,” Moore said. “I have all this time now after the season. We’re only required to go to lift weights two days a week, but a couple of us girls go every day. We also do speed and agility training each morning.”

There’s a reason Moore quickly established herself as the top player in the Central California Conference. After averaging 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game to lead the Cougars (23-4) to their first conference championship since 2006, Moore was named the CCC MVP and is also our choice as the Sun-Star Player of the Year.

“If you look at her stats, she rebounds, she passes the ball extremely well, she can shoot, she can drive, she can shoot outside,” Thissen said. “You don’t come across players like that, especially from our area, that have well-rounded, defined type of games.”

Moore’s season started on the bench as she was forced to sit out 30 days after transferring from Modesto Christian, where she helped the Crusaders win a Division III state championship.

“That was difficult to watch, not being able to play,” Moore said. “But I got to see the way the team worked together and how I could fit into it.”

Moore made her debut Jan. 8 and scored 20 points to lead the Cougars to a 55-31 win over Pitman in the Central California Conference opener.

“She fit in well after the 30 days, she fit in well before the 30 days, she fit in well during the summer,” Thissen said. “She really bonded, I mean closely bonded, with her basketball and even volleyball teammates. That made the transition easier.”

Moore was selected as a captain of the team and quickly emerged as one of the leaders. She worked every day to make her teammates better. Thissen says she has one of the highest basketball IQs of anybody he’s coached.

“I led by example,” she said. “I would go hard in practice and that rubs off on others. Being vocal helps. I’m also lucky to have a great group of girls. Nothing I said got to them. They were mentally tough. Everybody wanted to get better.”

Moore and her freshman sister Delia, who started at point guard and averaged 10.7 points, helped turn around a program that was 21-47 over the last three years.

Playing alongside her sister was one of the biggest highlights of the season. She also enjoyed seeing her teammates celebrate a conference title.

“Winning CCC, I could tell how much it meant to everyone,” Moore said. “It was such a great feeling. We knew we had come so far. We had put so much work in and to be rewarded like that was amazing.”

This story was originally published March 26, 2015 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Moore helped Golden Valley become a winner."