For the first time since the 2020-21 season, the Valencia High School girls’ basketball team has reached 11 wins through the first 12 games of the season after defeating the Bonita Bearcats of La Verne, 66-24 at home on Tuesday.
“I think we’re just trying to play our best basketball in each game and make each new game our best game,” Valencia head coach Jared Honig said. “Just one game at a time and putting all our focus into each game and trying to be our best.”
With the win, the Vikings (11-1, 3-0) have won seven in a row, a feat that dates back to early December in the Foothill League’s opening week win over the Hart Hawks.
Since the winning streak began, the Vikings are averaging 69.4 points per game on offense while allowing 31.4 points per game on defense, a nearly 40-point differential that Honig has credited to starting games aggressively.
“We just talk about starting really aggressive. Like, if it’s your shot there, take it. And then if we miss it, just go get the offensive rebound so we can either score inside or set it up again,” he said. “So, we stay aggressive right from the beginning, kind of knocking the other team back before they even realize what’s going on.”
In the win over Bonita (8-4, 1-0), the Vikings opened the game with 10 straight points before the Bearcats scored their first bucket off a layup. Throughout the opening frame, the Vikings were shooting the ball, with six of the first baskets coming from beyond the arc.
The Vikings ended the first quarter outscoring Bonita 29-9 and carried the early momentum throughout the game on offense.
Four Vikings finished in double figures in scoring with senior Cara McKell leading the team with 16 points on offense and five steals on defense.
Freshman Sophia Sarkar only scored nine points in the win but had an all-around performance as she finished the day with four steals and four assists.
With the Christmas holidays coming up, the Vikings will get some time off before the next set of non-league games in the West Coast Jamboree, a tournament in the San Francisco Bay area.
Honig said that once Christmas is over, his team will get an early-morning practice and make the trip up to the Bay, where his team will be placed in the top division in the tournament.
“So, we have these next couple days off, and then we’ll practice on the morning before we drive up to the West Coast Jamboree on Friday,” he said. “We’ll just have that one practice where we watch film, go through reps, get shots up, and then probably face some of the toughest competitionwe’ll see all season we’re in the top division at that event. So, we’re looking forward to competing at a high level.”
The Vikings are scheduled to match up first in the tournament against the Priory Panthers of Portola Valley on Monday.
