It is only James Valverde’s second year coaching the Esperanza girls basketball program, but he still felt he owed his seniors something special.
The Aztecs rebounded from a five-win season in 2012-13 to go 17-11 last year, including a win in the CIF-SS 3AA playoffs, and Valverde wanted to reward those who stuck it out.
His gift to his team is a trip to Ketchikan, one of the southernmost cities in Alaska, where the Aztecs are playing in the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic this week.
“I wanted to get it done for my seniors,” Valverde said. “They had some rough years.”
The trip consisted of 4 1/2 hours of plane travel, with a stop in Seattle, and a ferry from Ketchikan International Airport to Revillagigedo Island, where Ketchikan High is located.
The Aztecs didn’t show any signs of jetlag, either.
In the skills competition Sunday night, reserve Maddison Poirier won the tournament’s free throw competition and Esperanza (8-3) routed its first opponent, Craig of Alaska, 60-20. Leading scorer Maddi Catalano (16.6 points per game) paced the Aztecs in the win over Craig, with 14 points, and all but one of their 12 players scored a point.
Valverde spoke mostly Monday night about the experience and team-bonding the players will get from the trip. The coach estimated the school raised around $10,000 for the trip. The eight-team bracket is composed of six teams from Alaska and University Prep of Redding.
“It’s a great experience, lots of fun and they get to meet different girls from different places,” Valverde said. “The administration, parents, kids and coaches – it was a full-on team effort to get us here.”
Next up will be another unique experience for the Aztecs, when they face Sitka, an Alaska team from a few islands away, today at 4:45 p.m. (PST). Tournament organizers are expecting a crowd of 1,500 to 2,000.
“Everybody on the island supports the tournament,” Valverde said. “The whole state does.”
All tournament games can be viewed online at highschoolcube.com.
PAREDES FROM DISTANCE
Beckman’s leading scorer has a particular skill.
Janessa Paredes, the 5-foot-3 junior guard who leads the Patriots (7-5) in scoring at 14.8 points per game, has made a county-leading 51 3-pointers.
The beyond-the-arc strikes account for more than 86 percent of her points.
She made a season-high seven long-distance shots in a win over Nogales of La Puente in November, and has made five or more 3-point attempts five other games this season.
LIONS WIN GAHR TOURNEY
JSerra might be figuring things out.
Still without standout guard Coco Miller, who injured her knee in the offseason and likely won’t return this season, the Lions (10-3) have put together a five-game winning streak, including a dominating performance last week during the Gahr Tournament in Cerritos.
JSerra has found success in balance.
Lexi Vail led the Lions with 19 points in their first tournament win against St. Mary’s of Inglewood, Megan House and Kaitlyn Reis tied for the scoring lead in a win over J.W. North of Riverside, Reis scored 20 in a rout of Long Beach Jordan and Julia Ackerman scored a team-high 22 points in the championship game triumph over Cerritos.
The Lions’ average margin of victory in the four games was 25.8 points.
Contact the writer: jbalan@ocregister.com
