Golden Valley’s Moore named basketball conference MVP again

Stephanie Moore was tough to stop for opposing teams last season. The Golden Valley High School senior was even tougher this season.

Moore averaged 18 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 4.2 steals to help the Cougars go 10-0 and win their second consecutive Central California Conference championship.

Moore was an easy selection as the CCC Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row.

“It was really hard matching up with her, especially after what we saw from her last year,” Atwater coach J.R. Davis said. “She improved her game and added new moves. She came up with this left-handed floater that just killed us. It was amazing to watch her play.”

Moore was asked to do a little bit of everything with sister and point guard Delia Moore coming back from a knee injury. That meant Moore had to play point guard for most of the season. Delia didn’t make her first start until the playoffs.

“What kills you is she brings the ball up and then you finally get her to give up the ball and they’d pass it right back to her, and that’s when she goes,” Davis said.

Golden Valley coach Matt Thissen had the pleasure of watching Moore for two seasons.

“She’s a pretty special player,” said Thissen, who was named CCC Coach of the Year. “I think in just the two years she was here she demonstrated she’s one of the best players Golden Valley has ever had. I wish I could have her two more years.

“I bet the other coaches in the league are happy to see her go.”

Golden Valley also landed two players on the all-CCC first and second teams. Junior Abbee Croninger and senior Naomi Peterson were named to the first team. They were joined by Merced’s Lexi Thompson, who became the Bears’ all-time leading scorer.

Rounding out the first team were Kaylin Randhawa (Pitman), Alondra Ponce (Atwater), Meghan Hopkins (Turlock) and Kaelee Lynch (Buhach Colony).

The second team was comprised of Jaydon Williams (Turlock), Symone Gilliam (Merced), Heaven Mazon (Atwater), Jordan Pierce (Merced), Kayla Commons (Golden Valley), Cerah Moren (Pitman) and Delia Moore.

Receiving honorable mention were Jasmine Xiong (Atwater), Brittany Massa (Atwater), Vanessa Lopez (Buhach Colony), Raelynn Blackwell (Merced), Dezi Washington (Pitman), Hope Salsig (Turlock) and Sarah Musselman (Turlock).

All-WAC girls

After winning a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship, the Livingston girls placed two players on the all-WAC first team in seniors Sharn Sahota and Tina Lao.

The Livingston duo was joined on the first team by Adrianna Haynes (Central Valley), Nicole Bates (Ceres) and Jadan Rodriguez (Patterson).

Central Valley’s Mikayla Mabie was named the WAC Most Valuable Player, and Livingston’s Nina Garcia was named Coach of the Year.

Earning second-team honors were Jessica Arreola (Ceres), Angelica Navarette (El Capitan), Gurpreet Sodhi (Livingston), Erika Gutierrez (Los Banos) and Anamay Nelson (Patterson).

Adria Robinson (Central Valley), Kaylin Gonzalez (El Capitan), Natalie Cantu (Los Banos) and Samantha Dougherty (Patterson) received honorable mention.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 7:33 PM with the headline "Golden Valley’s Moore named basketball conference MVP again."