Sports

Girls Basketball: Miramonte Working on Undefeated Season

The Matadors have outscored their opponents by an average of 35.4 points per game en route to a 20-0 start.

Technically, the Miramonte High girls basketball team is in the midst of a 20-game winning streak.

And as far as winning streaks go, the Mats’ run is among the most dominant one can ever expect to see. Their average margin of victory (35.4) almost eclipses their opponent’s average score (40.8).

However, the Mats refuse to acknowledge the winning streak as anything more than 20, 1-game winning streaks.

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“I talked to them before the first game of the year and said, ‘We just want to start a 1-game winning streak,’” coach Kelly Sopak said. “They’ve bought into it. That’s all we talk about in the locker room, starting another 1-game winning streak.” 

Neither Sopak, nor the team set any specific goal before the season started, but as the wins have mounted up, one clear goal has emerged.

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“It’s forget yesterday,” Sopak said.

So far, it’s working.

The team is ranked No. 79 in the country and No. 17 in the state by MaxPreps.com. Outside of a 5-point win against Casa Grande in the West Coast Jamboree and a 3-point home win against defending Diablo Foothill Athletic League champion Dougherty Valley, Miramonte hasn’t seen many competitive games.

If you’re looking for a clear star player on the Mats’ roster, you won’t find one.

Senior Janine Loutzenhiser is the team’s leading scorer at 14 points per game and will play college basketball at Division-I Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., next year, but is surrounded by arguably the most balanced cast of scorers in Northern California.

Five other players are scoring at least 9.8 points per game, starting with senior Taylor Kizziee at 10.5. Kizziee hasn’t sorted out her collegiate future yet, but Sopak said she’ll end up playing somewhere at the next level.

Devon McDonald averages 10.3 points a game and will head to Bucknell next year for track and field. 

Sophomore , who was featured by Patch last year, splits her time between basketball and soccer and is averaging 10.2 points per game.

Fellow sophomore Breanna Alford might fly under the radar most, according to Sopak.

“Someone might have to watch all 26 of our games to realize just how important she is to our team,” he said of Alford, who averages nearly a double-double with 10.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game; 

“She’s a 5-10 post, she cleans up all our misses,” Sopak said.

Rounding out the top-6 scorers is junior guard Carly Gill at 9.8 points per game.

The balance makes preparing for the Matadors tough, but even more so is the team’s breakneck intensity on the court. It’s a full-court press from tip-off and the luxury of a deep and talented 10-player rotation. It’s rare for a player to be on the court for more than three minutes at a time.

Going into the year, Sopak wasn’t really sure what to expect.

“On paper, we lost our two best players (to graduation),” Sopak said. “After the summer, I thought we had a team that could be interesting. We didn’t want to set any goals because if we said ‘League championship,’ that might sell us short for something else. We didn’t really know what we could accomplish.”

Despite its 20, 1-game winning streaks and the dominant fashion it which they’ve occurred, Sopak said it’s clear they will not be the favorite in the North Coast Section Division III playoffs – a distinction he said belongs to Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland, which is ranked No. 7 in the state by MaxPreps and No. 32 nationally. 

“O’Dowd is the clear-cut No. 1 team in D-III,” Sopak said. “They have veteran players, rookies, they have the whole package. They might have seven or eight D-I caliber players on the team.”

Knowing O’Dowd will be waiting come playoff time hasn’t allowed the Matadors to get complacent.

“(O’Dowd) is the elephant in the room,” Sopak said. “They’re a nationally ranked team and at some point, we’ll have to play them. And beat them to win a section title.” 

When you really boil it down, though, all it’ll take is a 1-game winning streak. And the Matadors have that down pat. 

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