ESPNHS California

Her team might have fallen just short of No. 1, but dominant season still gains the program a prestigious honor. Other coaches of the year have been selected for each CIF division.

Prior to the beginning of the season, many felt coach Terri Bamford of La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla) had an excellent team, but not many had the Torreys pegged at No. 9 in the nation or No. 2 in the state, which is where they ended up in the POWERADE FAB 50 and the Cal-Hi Sports overall top 40.

Now, after 13 seasons at the helm of the small private school near UC San Diego, Bamford has been named the 40th ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports Girls State Coach of the Year. She is the first from the CIF San Diego Section to be selected for the honor since the late Lee Trepanier from Point Loma in 1987.

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It’s a scramble after No. 1 Mater Dei and No. 2 La Jolla Country Day and it could get scrambled again for next week’s final rankings after this weekend’s CIF state championships.

There should be some very competitive games this coming weekend at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento.

More in depth analysis of the individual games will be coming from ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports later this week.

Although we got some argument from La Jolla Day Country Day coach Terri Bamford, the top spot appears to be Mater Dei’s to lose heading into its matchup with Berkeley in the D1 title game.

Windward’s fall from grace has shaken things up, but its team last week isn’t the same one that beat Mater Dei in the Nike Extravaganza, plus the fact Country Day split with Long Beach Poly now becomes an even bigger factor in Mater Dei being in the top position.

There were four newcomers this week with two of them still in action, new No. 15 Laguna Hills and new No. 18 Salesian of Richmond. New No. 16 Foothill (Santa Ana) and new No. 20 Orinda Miramonte both lost in their respective regional title games.

(Through games played on Saturday, March 17)
(Last week’s ranking in parentheses)

1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 33-3
The top spot in California is totally in the Monarchs’ hands after a 54-43 win over a Long Beach Poly team in the CIF Division I Southern Regional title game that has split with No. 2 La Jolla Country Day. A win over Berkeley on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Sacramento at Power Balance Pavilion and coach Kevin Kiernan and his girls are in California’s catbird seat for the third straight season.

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Important announcement from Cal-Hi Sports | Archived Cal-Hi Sports content

Emotional leader of nation’s No. 12-ranked team ready to join 1,500-point and 1,000-rebound club. She and her twin sister are the pair to go with team’s Plum.

Maya Hood of the nationally ranked La Jolla Country Day girls basketball team near San Diego doesn’t get the hype of teammate and junior phenom Kelsey Plum, but the reality is that the 5-foot-10 senior who plays like a girl 6-foot-3 is the heart and soul of the team.

“She’s a tremendous leader, our emotional and physical leader,” said 13-year La Jolla Country Day Coach Terri Bamford of her player who is headed to the University of San Diego.

The “double-double” as Bamford calls her, or “my-oh-my” as she’s known by teammates and friends, can score and rebound as well.

Last week on Senior Night, Hood poured in 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds with three steals and two assists in a 77-25 win over league rival San Diego Horizon.

As a result of that performance, a season that shows her with eight double-doubles, and an approximate 3.3 GPA, Hood joins Plum, who won the award last year, as an ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports State Athlete of the Week.

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