The WBAL kicked off last night with a key matchup between last year's co-champions Priory and Pinewood. Coach Doc Scheppler’s squad rolled to a 63-38 win on Priory’s floor to give them the early inside track.
Pinewood has won or shared the last 13 WBAL championships and is off to 8-2 start with their only losses coming against Sacramento’s top team, Folsom, and national prep #1 Long Island Lutheran. The Panthers feature an explosive offense, averaging 65 points per game, and have four all-league returnees in seniors Vallory Kuelker, Katherine Garr, and Jolyn Ding and junior Caitlyn Kramer. Three talented freshman and a junior transfer from Leland add quickness and depth.
Before the loss to Pinewood, Priory had won 10 in a row, including the championship of the Diamond Division (Tier II) of the West Coast Jamboree. The Panthers play fierce defense, holding opponents to roughly 42 points per game, and hit the glass hard. They’re led by junior Ugreat Daniels, who shared league MVP honors last year. Junior Addy Chan was a first-team all-league selection and seniors Vienn Sheng and Natalie Newman were second team honorees. Priory also has identical twin posts in the Tuigmala sisters who sat out last season after transferring from James Logan.
Good things are ahead for Notre Dame Belmont, which opened league play with a surprising 52-42 victory at Menlo, improving to 12-1 overall. Sophomores Mika Cary and Sammy Kakala standout for the very young Tigers.
It’s a familiar story at Menlo, where the terrific tandem of Karen Xin and Ruiqi Liu (who missed the Belmont game) are making make their final stand. They’re averaging over 33 points between them and are heading together to the University of Chicago next year. Sophomore Ava Allen is scoring 8 points a game and shooting 36% from three. The Knights are 10-2.
Sacred Heart Prep returns to the top division in place of Crystal Springs. The Gators kicked off the league slate in style with a 47-41 victory against Notre Dame San Jose and stand at 8-5 overall. Keep an eye on junior Kate Baron who went for 26 in the opening win. She is a creative scorer and rugged rebounder.
Notre Dame San Jose is coming off a great post-season run a year ago that saw them make it to the NorCal semifinals in D4. So far this year they are 5-4 behind their big gun, Radhika Garapaty, who will play at Yale next year. Seniors Amaris Agossa and Rio Funatsu were both honorable mention all-league last season.
Pinewood has won or shared the last 13 WBAL championships and is off to 8-2 start with their only losses coming against Sacramento’s top team, Folsom, and national prep #1 Long Island Lutheran. The Panthers feature an explosive offense, averaging 65 points per game, and have four all-league returnees in seniors Vallory Kuelker, Katherine Garr, and Jolyn Ding and junior Caitlyn Kramer. Three talented freshman and a junior transfer from Leland add quickness and depth.
Before the loss to Pinewood, Priory had won 10 in a row, including the championship of the Diamond Division (Tier II) of the West Coast Jamboree. The Panthers play fierce defense, holding opponents to roughly 42 points per game, and hit the glass hard. They’re led by junior Ugreat Daniels, who shared league MVP honors last year. Junior Addy Chan was a first-team all-league selection and seniors Vienn Sheng and Natalie Newman were second team honorees. Priory also has identical twin posts in the Tuigmala sisters who sat out last season after transferring from James Logan.
Good things are ahead for Notre Dame Belmont, which opened league play with a surprising 52-42 victory at Menlo, improving to 12-1 overall. Sophomores Mika Cary and Sammy Kakala standout for the very young Tigers.
It’s a familiar story at Menlo, where the terrific tandem of Karen Xin and Ruiqi Liu (who missed the Belmont game) are making make their final stand. They’re averaging over 33 points between them and are heading together to the University of Chicago next year. Sophomore Ava Allen is scoring 8 points a game and shooting 36% from three. The Knights are 10-2.
Sacred Heart Prep returns to the top division in place of Crystal Springs. The Gators kicked off the league slate in style with a 47-41 victory against Notre Dame San Jose and stand at 8-5 overall. Keep an eye on junior Kate Baron who went for 26 in the opening win. She is a creative scorer and rugged rebounder.
Notre Dame San Jose is coming off a great post-season run a year ago that saw them make it to the NorCal semifinals in D4. So far this year they are 5-4 behind their big gun, Radhika Garapaty, who will play at Yale next year. Seniors Amaris Agossa and Rio Funatsu were both honorable mention all-league last season.
