The Samuelson sisters have made quite a name for themselves in Orange County girls basketball.
They are known for their prolific 3-point shooting, accuracy from the foul and scoring. Bonnie and Karlie Samuelson won a CIF-SS Division 1A championship at Edison in 2011.
But for years county coaches have been saying, “Wait ’til you see the youngest Samuelson. She might be the best of them all.”
Katie Lou Samuelson showed flashes last season as a freshman at Edison, but she elevated her game to another level after she and her sister, Karlie, transferred to Mater Dei this season.
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All-County girls basketball team
Girls basketball player of the year: Katie Lou Samuelson
Girls basketball coach of the year: Wayne Carlson
All-County girls basketball: Others honored
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“She’s a beast,” Karlie said of her little sister, who at 6-foot-3 happens to be taller than both Bonnie and Karlie.
Mater Dei played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, and Katie Lou put up huge numbers against all the nationally and state-ranked teams the Monarchs played. She helped Mater Dei win the Nike Central Valley Showdown in Fresno, the Matt Denning Hoops Classic at Mater Dei and the top division at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Chandler, Ariz.
She was the Monarchs’ go-to player as they won their sixth consecutive Trinity League title and made runs to the CIF-SS Division 1AA semifinals and the CIF Southern California Open Division regionals finals.
Katie Lou’s breakout sophomore season is the reason why she was selected the Orange County Register’s 2012-13 girls basketball player of the year.
“When she needs me, I was there,” Karlie said of her younger sister, “but everyone looks up to her, too, because she is the best player on the team.”
The Mater Dei gym, which some call “Baby Staples Center,” can be a pretty imposing facility to walk into for a sophomore who has just recently transferred to the school. The rafters are filled with all the championships Mater Dei has won, including the state championships the girls basketball team won from 2010-12.
“I remember the very first day and going in there and they were so welcoming,” Katie Lou said of her first summer workout at Mater Dei. “Everyone on the team was so nice and just not what we expected at all. We bonded with them really fast. All the girls on the team, every single one of them was really, really nice.
“I don’t know. I was just expecting super competitive, which it is once practice starts. Like once practice starts it’s all serious business and everyone is ready to go and in game mode. But before and afterward everyone is all goofing around, hanging out with each other and it’s really great.”
Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan is known for his intense practices and conditioning drills.
“It was way different coming into these practices,” said Katie Lou, who made 92 of 214 3-point attempts this season. “A lot more competitive stuff where you have teams and you play each other and the loser runs. So it makes everyone more competitive because no one wants to be on the baseline running.”
Katie Lou and Karlie played off each other very well this season. If teams focused their energy on stopping Katie Lou, Karlie would step up and vice versa.
“It’s awesome,” Katie Lou said. “We always know where each other are on the court and that makes it so much easier. It’s better when you have someone who can get on you and tell you what to do. But you can’t get mad at her because she’s your sister. She’ll get harder on me than the rest of my teammates, but it’s what I need.”
Four of the five players that started for Mater Dei in the loss to Windward of L.A. in the Open Division regional finals were underclassmen. The top players off the bench are freshmen, sophomores and juniors. Karlie is the lone senior starter graduating, so the Monarchs are expecting to be state title contenders once again next year.
“I think since our team is so young we can get a lot better for next season and the season after,” Katie Lou said, “because we really do need to improve our defense and be able to keep teams to lower points. We’ve been giving up a lot of points lately. If we can keep the same offense we’ve been running and lock down on our defense, we’ll have another great shot at getting a championship.”
Katie Lou said it will be tough when Karlie moves on to play with older sister, Bonnie, at Stanford.
“I think our first club team was when I was in first grade and she was in third,” Katie Lou said. “We played on the same NJB team together and my dad coaches. We’ve been playing together since then.”
Who knows? Maybe, the Samuelson sisters might reunite at Stanford.
