Los Banos basketball star named WAC Most Valuable Player for third year in a row
Los Banos High senior Anissa Sanchez finished her high school basketball career by helping lead her team to three consecutive Western Athletic Conference championships.
Sanchez was also named the WAC Most Valuable Player for the third year in a row.
“It’s an honor and I’m really grateful for it,” Sanchez said. “I feel I’ve worked hard for these past four years and it’s really special to be named MVP three years in a row.”
What made Sanchez’s high school career special is she played varsity for four years with her mom, Lorinda Sanchez, as the Tigers coach.
Both said the mother-daughter, coach-player relationship was tough at times, but they enjoyed the experience.
“It was fun, but it was a challenge at times,” said Lorinda Sanchez, who was also named the WAC Coach of the Year. “It’s tough managing that mother-daughter relationship at times, but as a coach it was great to coach an athlete like her.”
Anissa Sanchez averaged 14.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists during WAC play this season.
“She coached my AAU team, but I had watched her coach high school from the sideline,” Anissa Sanchez said. “Being her player was a lot different. She pushed me harder than the other girls because she expected more from me.”
Los Banos sophomore America Ordunez was named to the all-WAC first team. Ordunez was joined on the first team by Pacheco’s Kameryn Cortinas, Ceres’ Celeste Leon, Lathrop’s Kiersten Constantino and Isa Paniagua, Beyer’s Kylie Kulina, Johansen’s Alize Martinez and Amira Manning, and Grace Davis’ Aydryanna Ege.
The second team was comprised of Bethany Albarran (Johansen), Syndey Robertson (Mountain House), Sariah Fobert (Mountain House), Egypt Jenkins (Lathrop) and Mia Rodriguez (Ceres).
All-WAC Boys Basketball
Ceres senior Verlis Smith was named the WAC Most Valuable Player by the conference coaches. Smith averaged 18.3 points per game this season.
Los Banos’ Cam Lockette and Pacheco’s Deyon Bell were all-WAC first-team selections. Lockette and Bell were joined on the first team by Ceres’ Adrian Ontiveros, Lathrop’s Izaias White, Camryn Hayes and Jaelin Butler, Beyer’s Giovanni Primofiore and Mountain House’s Isaih Chenier and Dexter Francis.
The second-team selections were Los Banos’ Kayson Welch, Lathrop’s Napoleon Reeves, Ceres’ Lebron Stallworth, Beyer’s Joseph Richmond and Mountain House’s Thurmond Thorpe.
Ceres’ TJ Walker was named the WAC Coach of the Year.
