Atwater High girls basketball advances to semis in quest for first section title since 1988
The theme for the Atwater High girls basketball team this season has been unfinished business.
After losing in the semifinals to Vanden last year, the Falcons are determined to make a deeper run this season with the ultimate goal of hanging a Sac-Joaquin Section banner in the gym.
Atwater’s lone girls basketball section championship came in 1988. The last team section title the school has won in any sport came in 1993 in girls track & field.
“Unfinished business has been our motto since last summer,” said junior Saige Harcksen. “We lost to Vanden in the third round and then we lost in the second round of the state playoffs. We want to do better.”
“Our coaches remind us every day in practice that it’s not going to be easy,” Harcksen added. “We have to put in work. We look up at the section banner in the gym every day. We want to put our banner up there.”
Harcksen played a key role in igniting the No. 2-seeded Falcons (25-5) with a team-high 16 points in a 47-34 quarterfinal victory over No. 10 Vista Del Lago in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs Thursday night in Atwater.
The win propels the Falcons back to the semifinals with a matchup against No. 6 Grant, which upset No. 3 Del Oro 75-72. Atwater will host the Pacers (20-9) with an opportunity to punch its ticket to the section championship game at Golden One Center at 6 p.m. Feb. 27.
The Falcons have had sustained success locally, winning at least a share of five consecutive Central California Conference championships. Atwater has dominated CCC teams, compiling a 52-2 record during that span.
With a roster loaded with returning players, the hope was that this year the Falcons could break through and win a blue banner. Many of the players have three or four years of varsity experience.
Atwater is led by seniors Karissa Hukill, Jolie Hart, Andrea Sandoval and Cami Gibson. Hukill became the first Falcons player to surpass 1,500 career points earlier this season and the 6-foot-4 Gibson has signed to play at Stanislaus State.
Juniors Harcksen and Madison Hiler also play key roles.
“We have the same players and the same bond as last year,” Harcksen said.
The Falcons players work year round, with a lot of the groundwork done over the summer.
“If you come to us you’ve got to run,” said Atwater coach JR Davis, who has coached the Falcons for 15 years. “We probably run anywhere between 8 to 12 miles a week during the summer and we do it in the middle of the day when it’s the hottest.”
The running and conditioning is to prepare players for the uptempo, full-court style of play the Falcons want to use during games.
The Atwater press helped the Falcons jump out to a 16-4 lead in the first quarter as they pressured Vista Del Lago into 12 turnovers in the opening quarter.
Harcksen says the players will often run to the Winton Cemetery during their summer workouts or they’ll run to Five Corners in Atwater and pick up food for Davis and the coaches.
Davis compares the commitment to joining the military.
“If you’re going into battle, you want to make sure everybody with you is doing the same thing you are,” Davis said. “Whether you finish last or first, whatever, we do it as a team.”
The Falcons also play about 60 games during the summer, traveling to Sacramento, Fresno, Clovis and Las Vegas.
“We want to see everything that we’re going to see,” Davis said. “Because of our press everybody’s trying to give us a different look during the season. But we’ve already seen everything during the summer so our girls are ready for anything.”
Davis and his players hope all the work and preparation pays off and this group can accomplish something special.
“I always want to make sure that they’re prepared and they have confidence in their their level of play,” Davis said. “The (Sacramento) schools, nobody over there really gives the 209 any kind of props. It’s up to us around here to do better and we have unfinished business that we started last year.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2025 at 11:17 AM.
