Congratulations to the Coronado High School (CHS) Girls’ Basketball team! They earned the number 1 seed in the upcoming Division 5 CIF Tournament, going undefeated at 9-0 in non-league play and 7-3 in league play. The Islanders have a Round 1 bye and will play the winner of Mountain Empire and High Tech High North County on Sat, Feb. 22 at 7 pm in the CHS Gym.
The team’s year-over-year improvement has been extraordinary, going from 3-14 in 2023-24 to 16-3 this season. The way the team has won has been impressive, too. Although they are in Division 5, they have bested three teams in Division 3 and six teams in Division 4. The team’s only losses have been to Division 3 Lincoln (twice), and once to Division 4 Canyon Hills on Jan. 21. The Islanders avenged the Jan. 21 loss by handily beating Canyon Hills by 23 in February, 49-26.
“We’ve won different ways,” said head coach John Coolidge. “We’ve beaten people with our speed and our press, or we can slow it down and and get the ball inside. We’ve won as a team. We beat teams by 20, and we’ve also won four (close games), so we we can play a lot of different ways.”
Season Recap
The team has had leadership from three captains: four-year player and senior Selena Herrera, three-year player and senior Alina Molina, and first-year player and sophomore Akenna Thorton.
According to Max Preps, across the 19 games of the regular season, freshman Gabby Fichter, Herrera, and freshman Emily Albin led the team in points per game, total points, and steals per game. Fichter, Herrera and senior Alyssa McWilliams led the team in total steals.
“Our full court press is as good as I’ve seen because the (players) are very athletic,” said Coolidge.
Albin, freshman Siena Kieffer, and sophomore Charlie Reyman led the team in rebounds per game, while Reyman, Albin, and Herrera led the team in total rebounds. Albin, Kieffer, and freshman Selena Hohuan-Fabius led the team in blocks per game and in total blocks.
“We get a lot of help from our bench,” Coolidge said. “We have a lot of girls we can put in there that rebound … and play good defense. So we have a lot of people we plug in and out. They all contribute.” Other contributors include freshmen Olivia DeSanti and Lily DeSena, and sophomore Mary Chiles.
Coolidge also appreciates his coaching staff, and complimented the analytical nature of assistant coach Andre Murphy. He shared that Murphy will recognize a mismatch or identify that switching defenses would improve the team’s chances of a win. “He’s very good on the fly,” said Coolidge. “He’s as good as anyone.”
Tournament Details
The Islanders have a Round 1 bye and will play the winner of Mountain Empire and High Tech High North County on Sat, Feb. 22 at 7 pm in the CHS Gym. Purchase tickets here (https://gofan.co/event/3245558?schoolId=CIFSD).
If the team wins on Saturday, they will play at home on Tues, Feb. 25 at 7 pm.
Find tournament brackets here. To see Coronado’s schedule and outcome, click on the Division V tab. Go Islanders!
