After spending a season with Louisville High School of Woodland Hills, junior Isabella Escribano is returning to the Santa Clarita Valley.
Escribano, who began her high school playing career at Canyon High School during the 2023-24 season, is transferring to Valencia High School after a stint with the Royals in the 2024-25 season.
Although Escribano is still awaiting to be cleared to play by the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section this season, that’s not stopping her from getting accustomed to her new team.
“It’s definitely been a transition. It wasn’t easy because I loved being in Louisville and everything like that, but I wanted to get closer to home,” she said.
Escribano added that she and her family moved back to the SCV because she wanted to be closer to her grandmother.
“She’s been sick recently, so I just wanted to move back and be closer to where she is,” she said. “And honestly, I think the fit for me is Valencia. The past couple of weeks have just been getting to know the team and the coaching staff and since practicing with them, it feels like I’ve been there the whole time.”
The Vikings, who are currently first in the Foothill League standings after signature wins over Saugus and Hart in the first half of league play, add Escribano, who was averaging 17.5 points per game during her time with Louisville.
Escribano believes the Vikings have the potential to win a CIF championship, and she just wants to help the team achieve the goal of doing so once she’s eligible.
“They have so much potential, especially all the girls. We have such great potential to keep going further and playing,” she said. “My new head coach Jared Honig is training us, and coaching us how we will get coached in college. I went to the D1 practices, and it’s super similar the way that he formats and is super organized and the practice style is preparing us to go against this great competition and to get all these good wins, and you could see it on the court of how they’re facing all these teams.”
Escribano knows how a Division 1 college practice can operate, as in the middle of December, she took a visit to the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.
“I was blessed to get invited to go on an unofficial visit, to go tour the campus, to go see the practices, get to talk to the coaches and everything,” she said.
Prior to her visit in Texas, Escribano had the opportunity to also practice with the Mexican National Team U17, a goal that she had her eye on for a while as she continues to grow her international resume.
“It’s definitely a surreal experience,” she said. “You know, a lot of people don’t get to say that they play for their national country or get to represent them across their chest. It’s definitely a different feeling. And I’ve been honestly playing with the Mexico national team since I was 13 years old. I’ve always played up. I think this is the first year that I get to play with my age group.”
Escribano has already represented Mexico multiple times in her young career, including having played for the U16 team as a 15-year-old.
Escribano believes the skills she learned with Mexico can translate to when she officially is cleared to play with Valencia. And she wants to use those skills to make a push for a league title and championship with the Vikings.
“These past few years, I feel like each year I’ve added something new to my game. Every time you see me, you’re going to see a different person. Really don’t know who to expect to see,” she said. “I feel like a lot of people haven’t seen me since my freshman year in the Football League, and you know, I’ve gotten better as well being at Louisville… and that’s what a lot of people are going to see, is me being a real leader and being a true point guard. And a different ‘Izzy’ than freshman year.”
