Coaches: Jae Byun (head coach), John Wooldridge (assistant coach)
Top Returners: Arianna Holguin (11), Sydney Kim (11), Kayla Ma (11)
Top Newcomers: Rianna Jones (10), Janna Mariano (10), Allie Sexton (9)
Last Season: The girls basketball team finished 7-3 (17-12 overall) in Freeway League play, placing second behind undefeated 10-0 Buena Park High School. The Lady Lancers – many of whom were seniors and starters since their freshman year – secured a spot in the CIF playoffs with the girls reaching the second round but losing to Xavier College Preparatory High School (23-7) from Palm Desert.
Outlook: With many of his veterans having graduated, Byun said he plans to use this year to rebuild a strong foundation with new defensive strategies and fresh plays on offense.
“This year, we’re welcoming a huge fresh batch of first-year varsity players,” he said. “A fresh batch comes with inexperience and a huge learning curve, which means that I have to do a better job of teaching, coaching and helping them learn through their mistakes.”
The head coach said he also plans to continue incorporating what worked last year, such as an unpredictable defensive approach that can shift from setting traps for certain offensive players from the opposing team to playing man-to-man or zone.
“I liked the experience that we had [last year], how we were grimy on the defensive end and kept the game in the [40-point range],” he said. “This year, I hope to have that same kind of toughness and tenacity—if not more.”
Similar to last year, the head coach said his players need to work on improving their ability to score.
“Offensively, with a new group of players, we need to find out who our playmakers are and try to get the ball in their hands,” he said.
Another big change the Lady Lancers will have to adjust to is being placed in a new league (Crestview) with new opponents as part of CIF Southern Section’s decision to get rid of the Freeway League at the end of last season. This year, the team will be facing Canyon High School (8-3), Crean Lutheran High School (10-2), El Dorado High School (6-4) and Esperanza High School (8-3).
Byun said he estimates his team’s fiercest competition will be Anaheim’s Canyon High School, which finished with an overall record of 23-12, placing second in their league.
“[Canyon] has four high-level transfers this season, so I feel like they will be pretty talented,” he said.
Power forward and co-captain Holguin also said that the game against Canyon will be good competition after playing against them over the summer, but does not worry too much about facing the opposing team during the season.
“I know that our new league is definitely going to be a challenge,” she said. “I think every team is going to be good, but I just want to provide for my team and lead them as much as I can.”
Nonetheless, guard Mariano said she’s looking forward to the challenge.
“This [new league] is definitely going to jolt how we play at first, but the second game will allow us to get more comfortable and understand how to play against the new schools,” she said. “We just want to get better as a team, and it would also be really nice to make CIF.”
The Lady Lancers (8-6 as of Monday, Dec. 16) will kick off their first league game Friday, Jan. 3, at 5:30 p.m. at home against the El Dorado Golden Hawks (6-4).
