Season Was a Success for Women’s Team that Gave 100 Percent

The Eagles had an amazing season on the way to an 18-9 overall record, and they gave their fans a thrill during a first-round home playoff game against Napa Valley last week.

That game was, ultimately, a disappointing 92-80 loss. But, "Overall I was happy," head coach Noelle Collier said of the season. "We played together and nobody got hurt. It was a successful year. It's always hard to lose games you should win… We came out and played hard and gave 100 percent. What more can you ask?"

Six Eagles were honored with Golden Valley Conference postseason awards after a final regular season loss dropped them from tied for second to fourth and a 5-5 GVC finish. Sophomore Halliday Hubbard was All-Conference, and sophomores Megan Bennett, Jazmyne Wells and Kayana Woodard were Honorable Mention. The Eagles also placed two on the five-player All-Freshman team voted by GVC coaches: Breanne Hands was Freshman MVP, and Asia Hendrix was All-Freshman.

Seeded No. 15 in the 24-team CCCAA Women's Basketball NorCal Regionals, the Eagles were excited to host a first-round home game against No. 18 Napa Valley. Fans were excited too, including a large and loud gathering in the student section.

It didn't start well for the Eagles, who turned the ball over several times early and quickly got down 11-3. But the crowd soon had something to shout about as the Eagles cut the lead to 14-10 on a breakaway by Hubbard.

Napa Valley, though, kept dropping in three-pointers and finishing on moves to the hoop. The first quarter ended with the Eagles trailing 32-17.

Things started changing in the second quarter, and the crowd got into it. A three-pointer by Bennett from a couple feet beyond the arc at the top of the key cut the deficit to 36-25.

After trailing by 12 with 6 minutes to play in the half, the Eagles got on a roll. They scored the next 7 points in a row in just over a minute of clock time to cut the deficit to 39-34. First Hubbard made a tough shot from under the basket, then Hands made a three, and she followed it with a steal and drive for an uncontested lay-in.

When Bennett made her second three of the quarter and Hubbard followed with another well-contested shot from short range, Napa's lead was down to 42-39 with 2:30 to play in the half.

Eagle fans went wild when Hands made a lay-in off a fast break pass from Wells to tie it at 45-45. Hands also scored on an inbounds pass from Hubbard to tie it at 47-47 before Napa buried a three from the corner for a 50-47 lead at the half.

The Eagles stayed within 6 to 8 points of the lead for most of the third quarter and well into the fourth, but they missed several lay-ins and other short shots that could have made a difference.

Hands and Napa Valley's Brooklyn Giles (No. 5) were the game's top scorers, both with 23 points. Hubbard scored 14, Bennett 12, Wells 10, Woodard 9, Hendrix 6, Teya Amidei 4, and Karli Reynolds 2. Three other Napa players scored 19 points each, including Amaree Bennett (No. 11), who made 5 of her 7 three-point shots.

Though Napa Valley made 6 threes early, they only added 2 more after half time, while the Eagles made 11 in the game: 3 by Bennett, 2 each by Wells, Hands, and Hubbard, and 1 each by Woodard and Amidei.

"We didn't shoot that great but still did a lot of good things," said Collier, who appreciated the great crowd support and wasn't happy about the officials telling the student cheering section to be less exuberant.

Napa Valley got blitzed in its next playoff game against No. 2 Santa Rosa, 81-39. Four other GVC teams were seeded in the Regionals. GVC champion Butte defeated No. 16 Merced in the second round, 96-54, to advance to the final eight. No. 9 Feather River had a first-round bye then lost to No. 8 Folsom Lake, 72-68. No. 22 Lassen upset No. 11 Solano 57-52 then lost to No. 6 San Francisco 84-57. No. 14 Shasta lost to No. 19 College of San Mateo, 36-33. The one big upset going into the final eight was No. 13 Sierra defeating No. 4 Fresno City 85-71.

For the Eagles, a strong group of sophomores are leaving the program, including three who played only 4 games during a season cut short by the pandemic and stuck with the team for three years: Hubbard, Bennett, and Woodard.

As for postseason awards:

All Conference -- Halliday Hubbard, a 5-6 guard from Etna, also earned the Eagles' Hard Nosed Award. "You don't find players like Halliday often," said Collier. "She's the first one there and the last to leave. You always know what you'll get from her. She comes and brings it every game. She's the team rock, sets the expectations for everybody. She'll be tough to replace. Halliday had some double-double games this season for points and rebounds. She finished fourth among GVC players with 8.2 rebounds per game, first in assists (137 and 5.3 per game), third in free throws made (73), fourth in 3-point shooting percentage (34.5%), fifth in free throw shooting percentage (73.7%), and sixth in steals (46).

Honorable Mention -- Jazmyne Wells, a 5-6 guard from North Medford, controlled the pace all season from her point guard position. "She did a nice job breaking presses and starting the offense. She stood out to the coaches. They noticed her," Collier said. Jazmyne led the team and ranked eighth among GVC players in 3-point baskets made (49), sixth in assists (86), and seventh in steals (45).

Honorable Mention -- Megan Bennett, a 5-7 forward from Etna who "is willing to do it all, scrapping and working. She'll get on the floor, take a charge, set screens," Collier said. "She's 5-6 or 5-7 playing tough in the post, then she'll surprise you and hit two threes in a row." Megan finished with the best free throw percentage among GVC players (85.7%) and was fifth in free throws made (66).

Honorable Mention -- Kayana Woodard, a 5-9 forward from Crater who helped control the paint for the Eagles and ranked ninth among GVC players in rebounds per game (6.7) and 6th in assist to turnover ratio (1.6). Collier said Kayana came back this season to thrive after hip surgery and was good at guarding bigger players on opposing teams. "She can shoot outside, gets rebounds, plays great defense, and can guard the post," said Collier.

All-Freshman MVP -- Breanne Hands, a 5-4 guard from Yreka who finished top 10 among GVC players in scoring averaging (11.3 points per game), seventh in field goals (107), ninth in 3-point percentage (30.1%), 10th in 3-pointers made (41), and 10th in assists (61). "She turned it on during conference play," said Collier. A 2021 Yreka graduate, Breanne took a year off from basketball and went to Chico State after Collier had tried to recruit her right out of high school. When she returned to the court this year, she had to adjust to a three-point line that had been moved back 18 inches. "It was huge for her to come out and adjust so well to the three-point line and the speed of the college game," said Collier. "She's taking advantage of being able to get in the gym all the time, which you can't do in high school. She'll be a big leader coming back."

All-Freshman -- Asia Hendrix, a 5-9 forward from Mount Shasta, also earned the Eagles' Most Improved Player Award this season. "We put her often on other team's best player at power forward or post and she shuts them down." Asia finished second among GVC players in field goal percentage (51.2%) and offensive rebounds (107), and third in total rebounds (218) and rebounds per game (8.4).

By Steve Gerace