How do you replace one of – if not the – greatest scorer in Orange County history?
The simple answer is you can’t. But at the same time, you don’t necessarily try to either.
Mater Dei had the rare privilege of essentially bookending the Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis years with the Katie Lou Samuelson era. With Samuelson, the reigning Gatorade National Player of the Year, now suiting up for UConn, Monarchs coach Kevin Kiernan is without that lights-out shooter he’s had in recent memory.
“We’re really for the first time since I’ve been here kind of rebuilding, starting over,” Kiernan said. “Ally Rosenblum is back, she’ll be a solid senior for us. And we’ve got a lot of young kids around her.
“It’s going to take them a while to get mentally tough enough. I’m not sure they’re there yet, but it’s all a process.”
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Rosenblum finished as Mater Dei’s third leading scorer last season and will be at the forefront of what can be viewed as a sort of identity change. With Emma Torbert slated to start alongside the UCLA-bound Rosenblum, Mater Dei boasts a pair of post players 6-foot-2 or taller who are aggressive on the boards and capable scorers.
So instead of kicking the ball out, this Monarchs squad will look to feed the post for their points.
“Last year we couldn’t play them together, but now they’ve got to play together all the time,” Kiernan said. “We’ve got lots size. The question is how are we going to get them the ball?”
Nikki Freeman and Jayda Adams will be two of the team’s primary ballhandlers who will operate the offense.
Adams had a noteworthy summer, making Team USA’s U-16 national team.
MOVING ON UP
Of the three local schools to win CIF-SS championships a season ago, two call the San Joaquin League home.
Fairmont Prep and Orangewood Academy claimed the Division 4A and 5AA titles respectively last March, while also establishing themselves as fixtures in the county top 10 rankings.
The Huskies captured the school’s first CIF-SS trophy with their victory – which came a year after losing in the finals – while the Spartans grabbed their second title in four seasons.
Repeating will be an uphill battle being as both small schools programs have been moved up to Division 1AA this season, which includes some of the Southern Section’s perennial powers.
“It’s a nice thing for (the committee) to say, but the dynamics are different,” Spartans coach Leslie Aragon said. “Is that where we eventually want the program to be? Absolutely … Look at a school like a Windward, though, which’s also small and made the jump. They had three of the five best players in America playing for them.”
The enrollment at Orangewood Academy is 98 total students this year. Fairmont Prep’s is around 600. The enrollment parameters for traditional 1AA schools range from 3,100 to 4,600.
Aragon even joked when you break down the schools currently listed in Division 1AA in alphabetical order, Orangewood falls right after Long Beach Millikan and Mater Dei.
“We’re still very young and two of our best players are just sophomores,” he added. “The mentality now is, ‘OK, if they put us in 1AA, lets play, practice and compete like a 1AA team.’”
BACK-TO-BACK ASPIRATIONS
Orange Lutheran was the third county team to hoist a CIF championship trophy last season, knocking off Santa Margarita in the Division 3A final.
The Lancers graduated only one senior from last year’s team, and played much of the postseason with its leading scorer, Taelor Griffin, sidelined because of injuries. Griffin will be back in action this season, as will the Division 3A Player and the Year, Gloria Bates.
Orange Lutheran, led by Coach Tom Howard, has been moved up to Division 3AA alongside the likes of Corona del Mar, El Dorado, Sonora and others. With a battle-tested roster, the Lancers could end up playing for another championship in March.
TOURNAMENT SEASON
Four major preseason tournaments featuring many of the county’s top 10 teams will get underway Monday. The Ladycat Classic, the South Coast Holiday Tournament, the Corona del Mar Tip-Off Tourney and Fairmont Prep’s Husky Invitational all begin at the start of the week.
Championship games for each tournament will be held next Saturday.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
