Sierra Canyon girls basketball season preview for 2023-2024
By Jacob H. Pollon
The Sierra Canyon girls basketball team is trying to win all the championships this year.
The program has won Southern Section championships, state championships and league championships.
The only problem is that it has never won section and state championships in the same year.
“That would be nice” Sierra Canyon coach Alicia Komaki said. “That’s what we will try to do like we do every year.”
The Trailblazers have the pieces to do it.
Returning starters MacKenly Randolph and Louisville-bound Izela Arenas are back with center Emilia Krstevski.
Randolph is deciding between Michigan State and Louisville. She averaged a double-double last year. Arenas is an improved shooter and ball-handler. Krstevski can rebound, block shots and not allow penetration in the paint.
A big piece, maybe the biggest is Desert Vista of Phoenix, Arizona transfer Jerzy Robinson, considered the No. 1 sophomore in the country.
“Jerzy can do it all and her work ethic and competitive drive is there, too,” Komaki said. “We are lucky to have her.”
Robinson fits in nicely as JuJu Watkins is now at USC.
“Jerzy isn’t JuJu, yet.” Komaki said. “But I would say she might be a bit ahead right now as a sophomore than where JuJu was at the same time.”
Sierra Canyon won 31 games in a row last year, including winning the Southern Section Open Division championship against Etiwanda at Honda Center in Anaheim.
Just a week later, the Trailblazers lost to Etiwanda with a trip to Sacramento on the line. 55-54 on the Sierra Canyon floor.
“It still stings, heck yeah,” Komaki said. “We want to reverse that.”
The Trailblazers will travel to Texas, Tennessee and Hawaii this year.
Sierra Canyon opens the season the week of Nov. 13th at the Harvard-Westlake tournament.
In 2019, Sierra Canyon lost to Windward in the section final, then knocked Windward out in the regional en route to winning the state title.
It happened again in 2022. The Trailblazers lost to Etiwanda in the section final, then beat it in the regional en route to winning the state title.
2023 saw Sierra Canyon win the section final against Etiwanda, only to lose in the regional and not make the trip to Sacramento.