DIAPER DANDIES GAME: TEAM GRAY 54 TEAM BLACK 52
The Diaper Dandies game was exciting and entertaining. It showcases some of the young talented players in San Diego. The game would come down to sudden death. Both teams played hard and competed at both ends of the floor. San Diego High’s Tia Dixon showed why she is one of the top freshmen in the county, and will help Coach Lonnie Jones this year for the Cavers. She can get to the basket, and knock down the three. She finished the game with 23 points, including the winning shot. While over on the black team Shay Young showed her skills as another solid freshman in the county. She led Team Black with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Mt Miguel looks to be loaded for the future. Bryn Stark contributed on both ends finishing the game with 6 points, but dominated the boards for Team Grey with 9 rebounds and 4 block shots. Alexis Harris finished with 8 points and 4 steals. Alexis attacks the basket aggressive and plays solid defense. Khadijah Brandon finished the game with 10 points.
Team Black floor general would be Keyahndra Cannon from Mission Bay High School. She played hard on both ends of the court and was going toe to toe with Tia Dixon. Keyahndra sees the floor and makes good decision with the ball and is a tough on ball defender. She finished the game with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. A surprise player was that of Ocean Escalnni from Mater Dei High School. A physical player who rebounds strong, but showed she can hit the outside shot. She finished the game with 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Diaper Dandy game also showcased some up and rising middle school players. Monique Vann showed her speed getting up and down the court and defending. Kymber Hill who is 6’1 showed that she could mix it up inside and held her own. Tia Dixon was named MVP and Shay Young received the sportsmanship award.
FUTURE STARS GAME: TEAM GRAY 58 TEAM BLACK 56
In the Future Stars game we saw another competitive game that also ended in sudden death. The sudden death in this game went another 7 minutes with both teams missing some easy shots. Daniel Miller from Mount Miguel would hit the winning shot. Daniel Miller was named MVP of the game. She would finish the game with 15 points. Kimbreli Flournoy is an all around player that just plays hard. She is long and active around the basket. She plays unselfish and makes good passes. She is physical and was always around the ball. She finished with 10 rebounds. Myesheia Watkins from Mount Miguel is quick and can get to the basket. She is super quick when it comes to defending the ball. She helped out Team Gray with 5 steals. She came up with the game winning steal and made the pass to Daniel to win the game. Destini French from St. Mary’s is a beast on the boards. At 6’1 240 she kept the ball alive and dominated on the inside. She finished the game with 8 rebounds and 5 block shots. Haley Shepard from Horizon showed she can hit the long three. Kayla Miller from La Jolla Country day showed she can knock down the three and plays some aggressive defense.
Team Black was led by Alissa Campanero from Bishop’s. Alissa is a tough defender who frustrated the ball handler. She can knock down the three; Campanero had a game high 25 pts. She attacks the basket and shows signs of being a true point guard. Alissa was given the Sportsmanship award. Mary Arbor another up and coming Bishop's player contributed with her rebounding and defense. Megan Fennessy is aggressive rebounder who plays hard on both ends of the floor. She can knock down the open three from deep. Fantine Giap from Torrey Pines High School helped out by strong offensive rebounding. Railey Berry had some crucial rebounds and defensive stops. Berry is solid player who plays hard on both ends of the court. Christina Kime from Cathedral chipped in with 3pts. and 3 assist. Kime also won the underclassman 3- point shoot-out.
RISING STARS GAME: TEAM GRAY 44TEAM BLACK 42
The Rising Star game brought us our third sudden death game. At first it looked like Team Gray was going to blow out Team Black, when they went up by 14 points in the middle of the first quarter. Team Black fought back and played hard to tie it up with 11 seconds to go. Team Gray had one last chance but did not get a shot off.
Diamond Mitchell from Eastlake High School started off hot, hitting the first six points. She would finish the game with 10 points and 4 steals. Diamond is quick and knows how to get to the basket. This game would belong to Nicole Fountain from Mount Miguel. Nicole would show her deep range from the outside, she hit three straight 3’s. Nicole finished the game with 16 points, hitting four 3’s. She would be named the MVP of the Rising Star game. Nicole would hit the game winning shot from deep. Shateara Anderson a hard worker who gets after it on both ends of the floor. She would finish with 4 points and 7 rebounds. Elaina White from Bishop’s showed she can step outside and knock down shots. She is aggressive on the boards, finishing the game with 6 rebounds. Claudia Posada from Vincent Memorial finished the game with 5 rebounds and 4 steals.
Yvonte Neal from Eastlake High School would lead Team Black with 16 points and received the Sportsmanship Award. Yvonte finds many ways to score. She can drive and get to the basket or step back and hit the three. Janelle Stroud from San Diego High would show her defensive skills finishing with 4 steals. Sherika Miller from West Hiils High School would help the comeback begin with 4 straight rebounds that started the break. She is long and plays tough defense. Surprise of the night would come from Jacara Roberts from Eastlake High School. Jacara would finish the game with 8 rebounds and 4 block shot. Her last block helped her team go down to tie the game up. Ramonda Harris from Mater Dei would show us that you don’t have to be tall to rebound and play hard. She ended finished with 5 rebounds. Andrea Bird from San Diego High is a beast on the boards, but can handle the ball in open court at 5’11. Andrea has soft touch around the basket. She finished the game with 7 points and 7 rebounds.
The class of 2009 was missing Bishop’s Briana Martinez who is in a cast. Also Abby Leaueepetele from Morse High School, and Heather Serven from Torrey Pines High School.
CRÈME OF THE CROP: TEAM GRAY 40 TEAM BLACK 59
The last game of the night would be the Crème of the Crop, our ladies from the class of 2008. This class is very strong with talent. After watching three solid sudden death games, we knew we would have the fourth. It did not turn out that way. Team Black put on a clinic. Took a big lead and never looked back. Team Black was led by USD bound guard Danesia Williamson and Northwestern bound Inga Orekhova. Let’s start with our MVP Danesia who finished the game with 18 points. She goes hard to the basket, can knock down the outside shot and she can defend. Inga would finish with 12 points; she would hit 4 3’s. At 6’3 her no look passes she makes are incredible. She is dangerous from the outside and gets long on defense. Julie Ruiz from San Diego High is super quick and that showed in her finishing with 7 steals. She hounds the ball and waits for you to make a mistake. The one mistake ball handlers in this game were making was putting the ball in front of her. Cheynne Curley-Payne from Eastlake High School is a smooth, unselfish player who can take over a game. She has the ability to get to the basket. D’Arjene Porter from Morse High School is a physical guard. She would finish with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Meghan Brown from Canyon Crest Academy would start the game off on fire. She would finish with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Tynetta Turner would mix it up on both ends of the floor. She finished with 7 rebounds and 6 points. At 6’0 she can handle the ball in the open court and attacks the basket strong. Jasmine Bonds from Mar Vista High School would finish with 10 points, 4 blocks and 6 rebounds.
Team Grey just did not have the height to match Team Black. Team Gray was still loaded with some very talented players. Brea Mathews from Mount Carmel would receive the Sportsmanship Award and finish the game with 17 points, connecting on 4 3’s. Christina Williams from Steel Canyon High School is quick and an aggressive defender. Jhazmine Lynch from Mater Dei plays aggressive and gets to the basket. She finished the game with 9 points and 5 rebounds. Alisha Eckberg the Canyon Crest player who committed to San Jose State finished with 8 points and 4 rebounds. Can knock it down from deep and can finish around the basket. Bianca Padilla from Bishop’s would finish the game with 4 steals. Ebone Henry from Mater Dei plays bigger than her size and always playing hard. Attacks the basket strong and can defend. She would finish with 10 rebounds and 4 points. Brittany Soloman from Lincoln High School plays hard and attacks the basket. Nadia Farjood from Torrey Pines High School played hard and chip in with 4 rebounds. Ashley Sevilla from Mar Vista had 3 steals. Missing from the class of 2009 was some more talented players. Angela Misa from JSerra who committed to Oregon State, Gizelle Studevent from Bishop’s, she committed to Penn State and Victoria Lippert from Cathedral High School, and she committed to Harvard. With those three I know it would have been a closer game.
The Diaper Dandies game was exciting and entertaining. It showcases some of the young talented players in San Diego. The game would come down to sudden death. Both teams played hard and competed at both ends of the floor. San Diego High’s Tia Dixon showed why she is one of the top freshmen in the county, and will help Coach Lonnie Jones this year for the Cavers. She can get to the basket, and knock down the three. She finished the game with 23 points, including the winning shot. While over on the black team Shay Young showed her skills as another solid freshman in the county. She led Team Black with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Mt Miguel looks to be loaded for the future. Bryn Stark contributed on both ends finishing the game with 6 points, but dominated the boards for Team Grey with 9 rebounds and 4 block shots. Alexis Harris finished with 8 points and 4 steals. Alexis attacks the basket aggressive and plays solid defense. Khadijah Brandon finished the game with 10 points.
Team Black floor general would be Keyahndra Cannon from Mission Bay High School. She played hard on both ends of the court and was going toe to toe with Tia Dixon. Keyahndra sees the floor and makes good decision with the ball and is a tough on ball defender. She finished the game with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. A surprise player was that of Ocean Escalnni from Mater Dei High School. A physical player who rebounds strong, but showed she can hit the outside shot. She finished the game with 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Diaper Dandy game also showcased some up and rising middle school players. Monique Vann showed her speed getting up and down the court and defending. Kymber Hill who is 6’1 showed that she could mix it up inside and held her own. Tia Dixon was named MVP and Shay Young received the sportsmanship award.
FUTURE STARS GAME: TEAM GRAY 58 TEAM BLACK 56
In the Future Stars game we saw another competitive game that also ended in sudden death. The sudden death in this game went another 7 minutes with both teams missing some easy shots. Daniel Miller from Mount Miguel would hit the winning shot. Daniel Miller was named MVP of the game. She would finish the game with 15 points. Kimbreli Flournoy is an all around player that just plays hard. She is long and active around the basket. She plays unselfish and makes good passes. She is physical and was always around the ball. She finished with 10 rebounds. Myesheia Watkins from Mount Miguel is quick and can get to the basket. She is super quick when it comes to defending the ball. She helped out Team Gray with 5 steals. She came up with the game winning steal and made the pass to Daniel to win the game. Destini French from St. Mary’s is a beast on the boards. At 6’1 240 she kept the ball alive and dominated on the inside. She finished the game with 8 rebounds and 5 block shots. Haley Shepard from Horizon showed she can hit the long three. Kayla Miller from La Jolla Country day showed she can knock down the three and plays some aggressive defense.
Team Black was led by Alissa Campanero from Bishop’s. Alissa is a tough defender who frustrated the ball handler. She can knock down the three; Campanero had a game high 25 pts. She attacks the basket and shows signs of being a true point guard. Alissa was given the Sportsmanship award. Mary Arbor another up and coming Bishop's player contributed with her rebounding and defense. Megan Fennessy is aggressive rebounder who plays hard on both ends of the floor. She can knock down the open three from deep. Fantine Giap from Torrey Pines High School helped out by strong offensive rebounding. Railey Berry had some crucial rebounds and defensive stops. Berry is solid player who plays hard on both ends of the court. Christina Kime from Cathedral chipped in with 3pts. and 3 assist. Kime also won the underclassman 3- point shoot-out.
RISING STARS GAME: TEAM GRAY 44TEAM BLACK 42
The Rising Star game brought us our third sudden death game. At first it looked like Team Gray was going to blow out Team Black, when they went up by 14 points in the middle of the first quarter. Team Black fought back and played hard to tie it up with 11 seconds to go. Team Gray had one last chance but did not get a shot off.
Diamond Mitchell from Eastlake High School started off hot, hitting the first six points. She would finish the game with 10 points and 4 steals. Diamond is quick and knows how to get to the basket. This game would belong to Nicole Fountain from Mount Miguel. Nicole would show her deep range from the outside, she hit three straight 3’s. Nicole finished the game with 16 points, hitting four 3’s. She would be named the MVP of the Rising Star game. Nicole would hit the game winning shot from deep. Shateara Anderson a hard worker who gets after it on both ends of the floor. She would finish with 4 points and 7 rebounds. Elaina White from Bishop’s showed she can step outside and knock down shots. She is aggressive on the boards, finishing the game with 6 rebounds. Claudia Posada from Vincent Memorial finished the game with 5 rebounds and 4 steals.
Yvonte Neal from Eastlake High School would lead Team Black with 16 points and received the Sportsmanship Award. Yvonte finds many ways to score. She can drive and get to the basket or step back and hit the three. Janelle Stroud from San Diego High would show her defensive skills finishing with 4 steals. Sherika Miller from West Hiils High School would help the comeback begin with 4 straight rebounds that started the break. She is long and plays tough defense. Surprise of the night would come from Jacara Roberts from Eastlake High School. Jacara would finish the game with 8 rebounds and 4 block shot. Her last block helped her team go down to tie the game up. Ramonda Harris from Mater Dei would show us that you don’t have to be tall to rebound and play hard. She ended finished with 5 rebounds. Andrea Bird from San Diego High is a beast on the boards, but can handle the ball in open court at 5’11. Andrea has soft touch around the basket. She finished the game with 7 points and 7 rebounds.
The class of 2009 was missing Bishop’s Briana Martinez who is in a cast. Also Abby Leaueepetele from Morse High School, and Heather Serven from Torrey Pines High School.
CRÈME OF THE CROP: TEAM GRAY 40 TEAM BLACK 59
The last game of the night would be the Crème of the Crop, our ladies from the class of 2008. This class is very strong with talent. After watching three solid sudden death games, we knew we would have the fourth. It did not turn out that way. Team Black put on a clinic. Took a big lead and never looked back. Team Black was led by USD bound guard Danesia Williamson and Northwestern bound Inga Orekhova. Let’s start with our MVP Danesia who finished the game with 18 points. She goes hard to the basket, can knock down the outside shot and she can defend. Inga would finish with 12 points; she would hit 4 3’s. At 6’3 her no look passes she makes are incredible. She is dangerous from the outside and gets long on defense. Julie Ruiz from San Diego High is super quick and that showed in her finishing with 7 steals. She hounds the ball and waits for you to make a mistake. The one mistake ball handlers in this game were making was putting the ball in front of her. Cheynne Curley-Payne from Eastlake High School is a smooth, unselfish player who can take over a game. She has the ability to get to the basket. D’Arjene Porter from Morse High School is a physical guard. She would finish with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Meghan Brown from Canyon Crest Academy would start the game off on fire. She would finish with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Tynetta Turner would mix it up on both ends of the floor. She finished with 7 rebounds and 6 points. At 6’0 she can handle the ball in the open court and attacks the basket strong. Jasmine Bonds from Mar Vista High School would finish with 10 points, 4 blocks and 6 rebounds.
Team Grey just did not have the height to match Team Black. Team Gray was still loaded with some very talented players. Brea Mathews from Mount Carmel would receive the Sportsmanship Award and finish the game with 17 points, connecting on 4 3’s. Christina Williams from Steel Canyon High School is quick and an aggressive defender. Jhazmine Lynch from Mater Dei plays aggressive and gets to the basket. She finished the game with 9 points and 5 rebounds. Alisha Eckberg the Canyon Crest player who committed to San Jose State finished with 8 points and 4 rebounds. Can knock it down from deep and can finish around the basket. Bianca Padilla from Bishop’s would finish the game with 4 steals. Ebone Henry from Mater Dei plays bigger than her size and always playing hard. Attacks the basket strong and can defend. She would finish with 10 rebounds and 4 points. Brittany Soloman from Lincoln High School plays hard and attacks the basket. Nadia Farjood from Torrey Pines High School played hard and chip in with 4 rebounds. Ashley Sevilla from Mar Vista had 3 steals. Missing from the class of 2009 was some more talented players. Angela Misa from JSerra who committed to Oregon State, Gizelle Studevent from Bishop’s, she committed to Penn State and Victoria Lippert from Cathedral High School, and she committed to Harvard. With those three I know it would have been a closer game.
LBA 2009 Fall Showcase
By Jeff Harper
The LBA 2009 Showcase that was hosted at San Diego High School gave us a look into the 2008-2009 seasons, as well as the future of San Diego women basketball. Marlon Wells along with the LBA staff put on another great event. It was well organized and some very good games, and some solid players. The San Diego area is not thought of as being a basketball hotbed such as the Los Angeles area. However, over the last few years San Diego basketball has produced some quality players of it’s own. Here’s a recap of this years’ event.
By Jeff Harper
The LBA 2009 Showcase that was hosted at San Diego High School gave us a look into the 2008-2009 seasons, as well as the future of San Diego women basketball. Marlon Wells along with the LBA staff put on another great event. It was well organized and some very good games, and some solid players. The San Diego area is not thought of as being a basketball hotbed such as the Los Angeles area. However, over the last few years San Diego basketball has produced some quality players of it’s own. Here’s a recap of this years’ event.
(Pictured Left to right: Alisha Eckberg; Inga Orekhova; Gizelle Studevent; Danesia Williamson)