Eagle Women at Home Wednesday Night for Playoff Opener

Coach Noelle Collier said the Eagles women's basketball team is "fired up and ready to go" for Wednesday night's home playoff game against Reedley in the first round of the NorCal regionals. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Tom Powers Court.

The Eagles take an 18-8 record and No. 13 seed into the game against a Reedley team that is 17-10 and seeded No. 20. Of the 24 teams in the NorCal postseason tourney, the top 8 seeds get a first-round bye while seeds 9-16 seeds host seeds 17-24.

Collier hasn't seen Reedley play this season in person but has seen on film that they have a strong 6-foot-3 post player and two good guards.

Both teams had similar results against common opponents in the preseason and both played in conferences with top seeds. The Eagles finished second to No. 1 Butte (27-1) in the Golden Valley Conference. Reedley finished third in the Central Valley Conference, behind No. 3 Fresno City (24-4) and No. 7 Sequoias (19-9).

A strong Ratings Percentage Index, which ranks teams based on both win-loss record and strength of schedule, helped the Eagles claim the No. 13 seed and the first-round home game. Collier said her team also benefited from their five "quality wins" against playoff teams during the preseason. Siskiyous beat No. 8 Cosumnes River (22-6), No. 9 San Jose City (25-3), No. 14 Skyline (15-13), No. 23 Mission (18-10), and No. 24 Napa Valley (16-12).

With a win over Reedley, the Eagles would advance to play at No. 4 Folsom Lake (20-8) on Saturday.

The Eagles have had a two-week break between games because they were originally scheduled to conclude conference play last Wednesday against Feather River, but Feather River cancelled its women's basketball season in November.

That break had been a concern to Collier, but she was convinced after practices on Sunday and Monday that the Eagles are "ready to compete" and excited to have another home game.

All five Eagle starters received Golden Valley Conference recognition for their play this season. Sophomores Karli Reynolds and Asia Hendrix were both selected to the All-Conference team, sophomores Breanne Hands and Alexus Woodard earned Honorable Mention honors, and freshman Samantha Freitas was named to the GVC's All-Freshman team.

By Steve Gerace