Atwater star named CCC MVP, but Falcons coach calls all-league voting a ‘slap in my face’
Atwater High girls basketball coach JR Davis is still fuming after only two of his players received all-league honors after the Falcons won a Central California Conference championship with a perfect 12-0 run through the conference.
Atwater senior Aliene Lopez was selected by the CCC coaches as the MVP. Lopez helped lead the Falcons to their second straight championship and third in the last four years after averaging 17 points per game.
“It’s amazing,” said Lopez, who became the fourth Falcons player to surpass 1,000 career points this season. “It’s like wow, the coaches all agreed I was the MVP. That’s an honor.”
Davis said he told Lopez she would become a league MVP before she graduated back when she was a sophomore.
“A lot of it is her work ethic,” Davis said. “She would spend hours at the end of practice working with our freshmen players. Right now we’re in the weight room and she’s showing them how to lift. There’s not too many athletes that go that extra mile for teammates.”
Davis said there was a play during Lopez’s sophomore year that showed her toughness.
Lopez went up for a layup when she got knocked to the ground. Instead of putting out her arms to break her fall, she still managed to get up a shot and fell flat on her face, breaking her nose.
“The first thing she said was ‘Did I make the shot?’” Davis said. “She played in the next game and played the rest of the season with a broken nose.”
Falcons senior Jordyn Allison was named to the all-CCC first team. She was joined on the first team by Buhach Colony’s Skyler Dietz, El Capitan’s Kiera Flores and Mya Farr and the Patterson trio of Rayne Tango, Ranaye Manu and Ciera Cozart.
What upset Davis is that Lopez and Allison were the only Atwater players to earn all-conference honors despite the Falcons going 12-0 in the CCC with an average margin of victory of over 30 points per game.
“It’s a slap in my face,” said Davis, who was named CCC Coach of the Year. “I feel bad because our girls stats would be higher but I pulled our starters early. Most of my starters hardly played in the fourth quarters of games. I don’t know what the other coaches are looking at when they vote.”
Atwater seniors Mariela Fernandez and Maya Manzanares and freshman Karissa Hukill all received honorable mentions. Fernandez was one of the top three-point shooters in the CCC and averaged 10 points, five rebounds and four steals.
“I’m extremely surprised Atwater’s entire starting team wasn’t named MVP, first team or second team,” said Golden Valley Hector Nava, who missed the all-league meeting earlier this week. “Those girls were very good.”
The second-team was comprised of Central Valley’s Alyssa Rojo, Golden Valley’s Emily Rowan, Merced’s Mylah Steverson, Patterson’s Emma Medina and Rayna Manu.
Fernandez, Buhach Colony’s Emily Oseguera, Central Valley’s Tatyana Valencia, El Capitan’s Emma Ramey, Steverson and Patterson’s Macyn Cozart were all named to the sportsmanship team.
Davis says he can’t help but feel some of the CCC coaches may be upset with him and took it out on his players in the all-league voting.
“I think they made it more about me,” said Davis, whose team has won 22 consecutive CCC games. “I have to thank them because it sparked my drive now. Our girls are all pumped up. It’s motivation for next year. I love it.”
