ACALANES
    Having graduated a very talented senior class, Acalanes girls basketball head coach Margaret Gartner has seen her team begin the season with a 3-3 record. “Any win is nice because we didn’t know what we had. Our girls are starting to come together. With half the team new and half returning, it is kind of fun and exciting and every game is a big game for us.”

    With so many new players, it has been a change for Gartner and the team’s three senior guards, Lexi Le, Cameron Thornton, and Sofia Fernandez: “It’s an adjustment for everyone, not just the coaches. Our seniors like everyone on the team are playing a different role. Lexi’s our point guard and Cameron Thornton will also be playing point guard. We’re like a revamped offense and our defense is a little different but you have to work with what you have and try to make the most out of them and we’re still adjusting every day.”

    Gartner is going deep on her bench with four freshmen and three sophomores. With only three seniors, their leadership is crucial, led by co-captain Le: “Lexi is a great leader and the hardest worker on the team and the girls are trying to follow her lead. She definitely brings confidence to the game for everybody,”

    The four freshmen are F/C Leah O’Neill, G Leia Halvorson, G Millie Jones, and F Avery Deily are seeing significant playing time and learning on the fly. “When you think of what they did last year, playing at the Stanley School and CYO and what they’re doing now, they’re building confidence and working in practice and if there’s a situation they haven't seen that, that's on us and knowing that we can get better the next time,” Gartner said. “We have players that played little last season and now they’re getting playing time and we’re able to get our players rest.”

    Jones won the Pinole Valley Showcase player of the game as a freshman. “Still, we have to tell her she needs to score because we’re better when she does,” Gartner said. 

    With such a large turnover, Gartner has made it a point to establish the team’s identity: “We do that in practice where we preach how we’re going to defense and not give up on plays. It’s all new to our new players and I expect our five returners to do it and the others will follow. We have to push a little, but can’t get too caught up with the mistakes because that is just part of the game, so if we can keep our cool as coaches we have a shot.”

    As the year develops, Gartner is looking for constant improvement: “We should get better developing the chemistry of the team, changing from one defense to another and calling set plays and spacing better on offense. Our seniors are talking on the court and that is something we want everyone on the team to do because if they’re not talking, we’re going to make mistakes like leaving somebody wide open so that should clean up along with boxing out better.”

CAMPOLINDO

    The first two years head coach Doug Cardoni has coached Campolindo, they have shown constant success. Taking over a 9-17 team, the team was 15-15 and last season was 18-12 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs and has seen growth in the numbers of the girls trying out, from 18 his first season to 33 this year, and has won four of their first six games.

    With the graduation of their starting guards Ally McCauley and Raegen Shum, the Cougars will be more team oriented. “Not relying on Ally and Raegen, our offense is going to be more egalitarian and faster paced and I believe we will score more points this year.”

    Senior Sofia Iakovleva will be starting in the post. “Sofia really worked hard this off-season and can be a real force inside,” Cardoni said. “Everyone else is a ball handler. We don’t have any set plays and we’ve been working on ball handling for three years and so whoever gets the ball can just go. Any of nine players could be our leading scorer any game. I think we have some players that are going to put up numbers that will surprise some people because they've worked so hard on their games and they're really starting to trust themselves. I really like to see his team push the ball up the floor because “it’s easier to score against less than five people.”

    This is a veteran team with a solid core of upperclassmen, two sophomores and one freshman. The offense is led by senior co-captain guards Tori Gilbert, Becca Tanner, junior co-captain Jenna Chan, and senior Avery Yasukochi. “Tori is a four-year starter and scored 26 points in our opening game. She does everything on the court, scoring, rebounding, defending, and handling the ball,” Cardoni said. “Becca really came on last year and has taken the reins in creating stuff for herself and her teammates. Avery, a competitive swimmer who may be the strongest player on our team, has devoted herself solely to basketball this year and her improvement has been pretty remarkable and has just been fun to coach. Jenna, who has been a starter from day one, is a fearless player who can shoot, drive, defend, improved her ball handling and has a real motor which is a skill that she has in spades.”

    The one freshman on the team, Mackinsey Lee, is also splitting time with the soccer team. “Mackinsey may be the quickest person on the team and doesn’t play like a freshman,” Cardoni said. “She’s a great athlete that stays composed and has a high IQ on the court.

    Juniors Natalia Jaramillo, Jeevan Dhaliwal, and Kyle Pearlstein will also see significant playing time, according to Cardoni. “Natalia may be our best all-round defender. Jeevan showed great improvement over the summer and Kyle is very talented but just needs to stay healthy this year.”

    Sophomore Addison Davis, who was brought up to the varsity last year is someone that Cardoni feels is going to contribute this year as well, one advantage being that she is left-handed and can be hard to cover.

    Last season, Campolindo gave up fewer than 50 points in 24 games and Cardoni is getting more of the same this year, giving up an average of 35.8 points per game. “We like to play really aggressive, in your face man defense. “When you look at our team and our size, you might not think we're the most stout defensive team, but we will give a lot of people trouble by playing good, hard defense.”

MIRAMONTE

    As a rule, bringing in a new head coach requires an adjustment time for the coach and the team. However, for Miramonte’s new head coach Ace Wright, it was uncharacteristically easy since Wright was Miramonte’s head JV coach since 2021 and an assistant varsity coach since 2023, with the team starting the season winning four of their first seven games.

    After seven games, Wright has learned a lot about her team: “We’re a team that is going to get out and compete and play hard, no matter the scoreboard. I love that because you can't coach toughness or effort, so that's all you need to get a team riled up and going.” 

    Despite losing some key players to graduation, there is a core of sophomores in Lorelei Keenan, who was the team’s second leading scorer and leading rebounder, Ally Rogin and Freida Vierra who played almost every game and got valuable experience. “As freshmen, they were able to learn from the upperclassmen and their improvement and confidence has really grown from last year,” Wright said. “They know that I trust them to get the job done as they already know our system and know me.”

    Wright is still looking to make the team in her image: “With new players and differing talent, I want us to be more of an aggressive defensive team, where we are pressing more and playing five-on-five defense. Offensively, I just want them to get out there and ball out. We have a couple of sets that we will run but other than that I just want them to read the plays and the defense and go from there.”

    Co-captain guards, senior Maegan Eichenberger and junior Annelise Lindberg are the leaders on the court. “Maegan and Annelise will be playing most of each game. They are the key to our winning games. Amy can rotate in and out at different positions. Maegan has been on the varsity since she was a freshman so I trust her with the ball in her hands.”

    While waiting for transfers Allie Curran and Ava Noga to become eligible, freshman guard Anika Vasisht is going to get a lot of playing time. “Anika can shoot the ball pretty well and has a lot of energy, hustling on offense and defense, getting used to the different pace of varsity basketball.”
    With the team giving up an average of 34.1 points per game, Wright will be consistently looking for the team to elevate their game as the year progresses: “I'm looking to improve on a defensive end. If we can really home in and be an aggressive defensive team, we should be good in the years to come, especially with our height with Rogin (6’1”) and Curran (6’2”). Their presence will be great for us with blocks and deflections.”