They were the San Jose Cagers this summer, but all 10 of these girls will be on the roster next season at Archbishop Mitty. They played all-star teams and went 32-3. Courtesy photo.
For more highlights from the Cal Sparks Ballin in the Ballroom event at Las Vegas, CLICK HERE.
All of the girls from the AAU San Jose Cagers will be on the roster for Archbishop Mitty of San Jose during the 2016-17 season. Here’s a look at where some of the girls are getting offers from after a summer in which they only lost three times in 35 outings:
Since they are not playing in an event for the final NCAA viewing period, the San Jose Cagers ended the summer 32-3 after posting a 58-50 win over 1 Nation Elite at the Cal Sparks Ballin’ in the Ballroom event in Las Vegas. The 1 Nation Elite squad is the same one that besides having a win in Vegas over Sparks Gold 1 had a 56-44 win over the Wiggins Waves.
The Cagers actually finished the tourney with the loss to Sparks Gold 1 but once again they were missing head coach Sue Phillips and arguably their top player, sophomore to be Haley Jones.
In the win over 1 Nation Elite, Maddie Holland had 14 points and 12 rebounds while junior Nicole Blakes had 10 rebounds and Karisma Ortiz dished out seven assists. The Cagers had their second loss of the summer just prior to the win over the Waves on Saturday to the Texas Elite Adidas 17U Prime.
Not having Jones against the big and tall Texas team might have been a factor, but still, all in all, it was a great summer for Phillips and her girls, and they will certainly be a team to watch this coming season.
With transfers possibly still to come to various teams around the state and injuries as well, Mitty should start the preseason higher than the No. 5 spot it finished in at the end of last season.
The recruitment of all the players also will be interesting to follow.
Heleyna Hill, an incoming senior guard, entered the Ballin’ in the Ballroom with offers from Nevada and San Jose State. Holland, a 6-foot incoming senior wing, has offers from the University of San Francisco, St. Mary’s, UC Davis, Fresno State, Boise State, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Tahlia Garza, a 6-foot-2 incoming senior forward, has offers from UC Irvine, New Mexico State, Pacific, Denver and Long Beach State. Blakes, a 6-foot-2 incoming junior, hopes to draw offers in the coming weeks. Ortiz, a 6-foot incoming junior wing, has offers from UC Santa Barbara and Santa Clara. Another girl that is a big part of the Mitty package is Daniella Guglielmo. The 5-foot-10 guard has offers from New Mexico State and UC Irvine.
And then there’s Jones, the highly-regarded sophomore. She has offers from Georgia Tech and UC Santa Barbara with some other big-time interest, including Cal, Stanford and UCLA.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
