First-year head coach Dante Dixon diagrams a play for the team at Windward of Los Angeles during H.O.P.E. Showcase fall tourney held in Orange County. Photo: Harold Abend.
San Ramon Valley, playing as Wolfpack NorCal – Black, gets one eye-opening win at Orange County event over Etiwanda. Eagles also debuted a new freshman point guard at the event who didn’t play vs SRV. We also have players mentioned and watched from Mater Dei, Windward, Centennial of Corona, Bishop Montgomery of Torrance, Rosary of Fullerton and Pinewood of Los Altos Hills in this writeup.
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Typical fall girls basketball means players, and in particular coaches, do want to win, because winning builds confidence, but there are several other factors, and the Seventh Annual H.O.P.E. Showcase (Helping Others Provide Exposure) event held last week in California’s Orange County, at several schools, but with Fullerton College in Fullerton as the main site is a perfect example.
The 110-team tournament, produced by veteran non-scholastic event promoter Patrick Woodward of End of the Trail/EOT Basketball, attracted not only many of the top teams in not only Southern California and some in Northern California but Arizona and even some teams from Canada as well.
College coaches and media attending received packets with the school names so they could easily identify players, but the teams used nicknames and not the school name for all other purposes.
We covered eight games of potentially preseason high-ranked teams from California on Saturday at Fullerton College, Sonora of La Habra and Rosary Academy of Fullerton, and although some of the teams were shorthanded due to injuries, and some coaches were using the event to use different sets of starters and use other variables to prepare for the season, some of the state’s top players shined.
Arynn Finley, now a senior, brings up the ball for Etiwanda during last year’s CIF Open Division state final. Photo: Willie Eashman / Cal-Hi Sports.
Two-time defending CIF Open Division state champions Etiwanda head coach Stan Delus doesn’t want to lose any time of game at any time of the year. However, in two games we saw them play as THE E, Delus used different sets of starters, the lost in one of the games.
Some Etiwanda players played in the first game, a 56-45 win over Arizona Compass, and some players that played in the second game against a San Ramon Valley team playing as Wolfpack NorCal – Black, didn’t play in the first game.
To some it may come as a bit of a shock, but the Wolfpack, who as San Ramon Valley finished No. 8 in the Cal-Hi Sports Final Expanded Rankings last season, was also missing players like The E but still took it to the Open champions and prevailed in a 51-44 final.
One of the most impressive players at the H.O.P.E. Classic was San Ramon Valley junior guard Ella Gunderson, a 2025 Cal-Hi Sports All-State Sophomores First Team selection. Her dibble drive was unstoppable and she hit from outside the arc as well. If we did player rankings like the Girls of Summer Player Rankings, Gunderson, who led San Ramon Valley in scoring last season at 18 points per game (6.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 40-percent on 65 made three-pointers and 58-percent overall from the field) would have been the top-rated player at the event based on her performance against Etiwanda.
A Wolfpack player not far behind Gunderson was recent San Jose State commit and fellow backcourt mate and 2025 All-State Juniors First Team honoree Alyssa Rudd (15.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 3.0 spg). The combination of those two and the stellar play of junior Carly Stern and contributions from junior Hania Bowes was too much for The E to overcome.
Etiwanda freshman point guard Hailey Henderson played very well in the win over Arizona Compass. She could possibly be the heir apparent to former Eagles’ superstar and current Cal freshman Aliyahna “Puff” Morris, the 2025 Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year and State Freshman, Sophomore and Junior of the Year as well. She has the moves and can connect from long range, but Henderson, who was the top freshman we saw on Saturday, did not play against Wolfpack.
An Etiwanda player who played very well in both games we covered and was one of the event’s top players was junior guard Chasity Rice, who was All State Sophomores Second Team. Also playing well for Etiwanda was junior forward Aliya Phillips, and senior guard Arynn Finley, an All-State Juniors Second Team selection. Another freshman guard to watch that Delus likes and showed some flashes of brilliance was Cassidy Morgan. Junior wing Andrea Alamo looked good as well.
Mater Dei, playing as the Monarchs, were still without 6-foot-1 All-State Juniors First Team honoree Kaeli Wynn, and were also missing 6-foot-2 junior Stella Hoss, who earned high marks in the Girls of Summer Player Rankings and looked much improved over last year. Wynn, who missed the few games last season with a shoulder injury, should be back soon, and Hoss was held out for a sore back.
The Monarchs didn’t light up the scoreboard in the game we saw, but their defense ground down Mountain View of Arizona in a 42-23 victory. The best player on the floor and one of the top players at the H.O.P.E. and certainly one of the top freshmen was 5-foot-11 guard Legend Tyler. She finished with 17 points including a three-pointer. Senior 6-foot-1 forward Ava Kanaly looked solid and finished with 13 points, and the griding defense was led by junior guard Harmony Golightly and senior Amiah Lewis.
Windward (Los Angeles), playing as the Wildcats, took on Rosary Academy of Fullerton playing as the OC Royals on Rosary’s home floor and came away with a hard fought 57-52 victory they led by a lot more until the hosts made a late run to make it a close game. Sophomore wing Charis Rainey was right at the top of the players we observed. Junior left-handed guard Angelina Habis, a transfer from Chaminade (West Hills) and an All-State Sophomore First Team selection last year, had a solid outing, and she likes to shoot the three-ball, and is a long-range lefty can be hard to defend. A third Windward player that looked solid was 6-foot-1 sophomore Shiloh Johnson, the daughter of Los Angeles Crenshaw basketball legend Marques Johnson. She continued to look much improved over last year just like when we saw her at the HER Skills Summit at Tustin High around six weeks ago.
First-year Windward head coach Dante Dixon, a previous Wildcats’ assistant and longtime Los Angeles girls and boys basketball coach, takes over a solid team but he’s now missing his biggest piece of the pie. We had heard that 2025 Cal-Hi Sports All-State Freshmen selection and USA Basketball U16 finalist Amel Cook had suffered an injury, but when we queried Dixon at the H.O.P.E Showcase he confirmed that she had a meniscus injury and would be out for the season.
With both Cal-Hi Sports State Freshman of the Year Tati Griffin out with a knee injury and now Cook as well, the Cal-Hi Sports State Sophomore of the Year race would seem to be wide open, and the way she looked at the H.O.P.E. it would appear 6-foot-7 All-State Freshmen Sydney “Bean” Douglas, who is now at Centennial of Corona after transferring from Ontario Christian, will be the front runner.
We saw Douglas go for 18 points and 14 rebounds playing for Cenrona in a 54-52 win over Mille HS, and on Friday she had 18 points and 13 rebounds in a 47-33 win against Bella Vista Prep of Arizona. Another Centennial/Cenrona player that looked very good was junior point guard Armanyie Reed, a transfer from Bishop Montgomery of Torrance.
Speaking of Bishop Montgomery, we saw them play at Troy as Bishmon against a Rialto team playing as the IE Knights.
Flashy 5-foot-4 Rialto point guard was more than Bishop Montgomery could handle in a 54-48 win by Rialto after she went for 26 points with two three-pointers in the victory.
Bishop Montgomery got a solid performance from senior guard Sophia Dignadice (11 points, three 3-pointers) and 6-foot-1 junior center Helen Long who had 10 points.
Rosary gave Windward everything it could handle in its five-point loss. New head coach Leslie Aragon, who was a Royals’ assistant after coming over from Orangewood Academy (Garden Grove) after it discontinued athletics, has what looks like its shaping up to be a solid team like it was before a couple of down years. Junior guard Isabella Holmes nailed five three-pointers against Windward and finished with 19 points. Another player for Rosary that played well was junior guard Riyanna Meaders.
Pinewood of Los Altos Hills played as the Fever and won 37-28 in a defensive battle over the Jaguars. The top player for Pinewood was senior Kaitlyn Kramer. She had over half of the offense and finished with 19 points including three three-pointers. Senior forward Andrianna Wilkinson and sophomore wing Elliot Ososki also played well.
Villa Park, playing as Vilpa Hi, also won defensive battle in a 42-27 victory over Lynn Valley of Canada. The top three players for Villa Park were sophomore point guard Lauren Wolfe, senior guard Olivia Sturdivant and senior wing Bailey Roczey.
We wish we could have covered more teams and games but all told over 30 players are getting some ink from action at the H.O.P.E. Showcase.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
