This year’s Platinum Division of the West Coast Jamboree — which takes place Dec. 27-29 throughout the East Bay — doesn’t have any nationally ranked teams as in past years. However, every one of the eight teams found a spot on the Cal-Hi Sports Preseason rankings, making it one of the strongest top-to-bottom fields for the Jamboree’s premier division in the 19-year history of the tournament.
This year’s Platinum Division will be held at College Park High. With eight teams of this caliber, figuring out the first-round matchups and attempting to avoid same-region matchups early, was no easy task.
Preseason No. 3 Pinewood-Los Altos Hills starts at the bottom of the bracket where Stanford-bound senior sharpshooter Hannah Jump and super-versatile senior Klara Astrom square off with Bishop Alemany-Mission Hills. Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler leads a loaded squad that also includes seniors Kaitlyn Leung and Trinity Copeland, plus a lot of underclass talent like sophomores Annika Decker, Una Jovanovic and Courtni Thompson.
Bishop Alemany will be returning from the Iolani Classic in Hawaii. Two players to look for from Alemany are flashy senior guard Ashley Orozco and senior 5-foot-10 wing Izzy Hernandez.
State preseason No. 6 Salesian-Richmond is on the top half of the bracket where it opens against No. 36 Troy-Fullerton. Salesian is led by 6-5 USC-bound Angel Jackson, the state’s top rated post, and Hawaii-bound power forward Makayla Edwards. Coach Stephen Pezzola’s arsenal also includes seniors Anjel Galbraith and Nia Chinn, plus three underclass transfers who will be eligible for the Jamboree.
Salesian will be coming from the Nike TOC in Phoenix. By the time the Jamboree rolls around, Troy will have played 12 games. Coach Roger Anderson has a lot of returners led by junior Anaiyah Tu’ua and her twin sister, Aaliyah Tu’ua. However, at the outset of the season it’s been a pair of freshmen leading the Warriors: Hannah Stines has been the leading scorer and Isabella Pearson has also been a big contributor.
Etiwanda-Rancho Cucamonga hails from SoCal’s Inland Empire region and was the No. 5 team in the state preseason rankings. Like other SoCal teams that started seasons almost two weeks before most NorCal ones, the Eagles have a significant head start. Etiwanda will have played 10 games coming into its Jamboree opener with preseason No. 32 Sacramento. Those 10 games include some of the top teams from SoCal.
The Warriors’ top returners are senior wing Evanne Turner, and 6-0 senior power forward Kimora Sykes. Other Etiwanda girls to look for are 6-2 junior post Nnenna Orji, junior point guard Joy Campbell and senior forward Karol Nelson (a transfer from Miller-Fontana).
Sacramento coach Michelle Massari returns just about everyone, including senior standout guard RyAnne Walters, the ESPN No. 27-rated senior point guard in the nation. Two other girls to look for are seniors Andriana Avent and Rebekah Brown.
The last of the first-round matchups is an interesting one: Preseason No. 12 Carondelet-Concord and No. 13 Clovis North-Fresno. Carondelet has a new coach as Michael Morris has come over from Vacaville Christian-Vacaville. He inherits a team with almost all its Division I section-championship talent returning — a group led by Ali Bamberger. The 6-3 Washington-committed Bamberger came into the season as one of the top post players in the state. Along with Texas El Paso-bound 6-2 forward Tatyana Modawar, Morris inherited a Twin Towers of sorts. Three other senior returners are guards Erica Miller and Emily Howie, and forward Alex Brown. The Cougars will already have played Salesian and will be coming to the Jamboree from the Nike TOC.
Clovis North-Fresno will be making its second trip to the Bay Area after playing in the Elite Showcase at Chabot College. The Broncos are led by junior guard Savannah Tucker, who has started the season very well. Opponents also can’t sleep on 5-11 wing and reigning Cal-Hi Sports State Sophomore of the Year Rowan Hein, or senior point guard Taylor Pilot.
DIAMOND DIVISION
This division features a defending state champion as well as the reigning Cal-Hi Sports State Freshman of the Year.
Last year’s top frosh, Kiki Iriafen, leads Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood. The Wolverines went 26-6 a year ago and lost their CIF SoCal Open Div. semifinal by one point. This year, a younger team is gaining its footing with Iriafen (19.6 points, 13 rebounds through 10 games) and sophomore Kimiko Katzaroff leading the way. Harvard-Westlake opens with Dublin, another team led by a sophomore — Kendra Grant, averaging 17.9 points and 2.1 steals early on.
West Campus-Sacramento is the defending CIF Div. III state champions. The Warriors are led by juniors Gabby Rones and Simone Johnson. Rones was averaging 23 points through the team’s first four games this season. They will take on Christian-El Cajon, a team considered to be among the best in the San Diego Section this season.
Miramonte-Orinda returns a ton of talent from its 28-win team a year ago, including junior Erin Tasarow and sophomore Mia Mastrov. The Matadors, who began the season 6-1, open with a senior-led Reno team featuring Katelynn Biassou, a New Mexico-signee for volleyball. Filling out the bracket are Esperanza, led by its senior frontcourt of Samantha Fries and Megan Nieto, and Seattle Prep, a team which graduated just two from its 20-7 squad a year ago.
GOLD DIVISION
This bracket has all kinds of intrigue, starting with the supremely talented Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland. The Dragons opened the year 1-4, but that fourth loss was by a mere three points (56-53) to preseason NorCal No. 1 Pinewood. Jada Holland and Lexi Love will be players to watch for O’Dowd, which open against an Oakland Tech team that began the season 4-0 behind seniors Tiffany Siu and Stephanie Okowi.
National-power St. Mary’s-Stockton is forging a new identity behind a youth movement following the graduation of McDonald’s All-American Aquira DeCosta and others. The Rams open against American Leadership Academy of Gilbert, Arizona. The Eagles were undefeated (22-0) Div. II state champs last season. They’re led by Samantha Quigley, a senior who averaged 32 points through ALA’s first five games.
Heritage-Brentwood went 23-8 a season ago and were Division I section runners-up to Carondelet. They’re led by senior guard Jordan Sweeney and junior post Abby Muse. The Patriots meet Edison-Stockton in the first round, which features all-around standout Kendra Banks (18 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.3 assists through six games).
Finally there’s Los Angeles City Section power Granada Hills Charter, which opened its season 9-1, and Bishop Manogue-Reno, which opened 1-4 and doesn’t include a senior on its roster. Watch out for Jordyn Jensen, though.
— Harold Abend and Chace Bryson
Find all the host sites and brackets for the Jamboree at westcoastjamboree.org. Read more SportStars content, including CIF State Football wrap-ups, by going to SportStarsMag.com.
