The Christopher girls basketball program graduated three starters off a superb team. But with a new coach and many new players in key roles, the Cougars have not missed a beat.
CHS is rolling again behind returning starters Shiloh Vallejos and Kaycee Carrasco and a cast that has stepped up. The 13-3 Cougars are in the thick of the league race, the ultra-competitive Blossom Valley Athletic League, Mt. Hamilton Division. At the halfway mark of the league season, CHS has a 4-2 mark, good for a second-place tie.
Stars Alyssa Lopez, Nat Javier and Frenchy Falvey graduated from last year’s record-setting squad. That team played in a Central Coast Section final and the NorCal playoffs in 2024, the second straight year of both accomplishments and the only two times in school history.
That resulted in a lot of change for this 2024-25 edition but Christopher is winning big once again. Vallejos and Carrasco lead this edition, with major contributions coming from players who had small roles last season or are new to the squad.
Brooklyn Sax is an offensive force, Maddie Tamone, Cassandra Durrand and Malerie Middleton are solid up front and Ember Navarro sparkles all over the court.
Coach Sean Brown’s troops are on a four-game win streak heading into this week’s battles.
“It’s been a great beginning of the season,” coach Brown said. “We started off league with two losses and now we’re climbing back. Our strength is probably our defense. Offensively, we have some great outside shooters. We shoot a lot of threes.”
Christopher had a strong pre-season performance, going 9-1. Non-league wins came twice against Salinas, 60-38 and later 42-27, a demolition of Mt. Pleasant 68-5 and solid victories over Piedmont Hills 47-31, Leigh 55-45 and Aptos 39-28.
The Cougars topped powerful Hollister 58-55 and smashed the two Morgan Hill schools, trouncing Sobrato 62-34 and smacking Live Oak 58-31.
They commenced league play with close losses to Branham and Evergreen Valley. However, the Cougars turned it around and are back in the Mt. Hamilton Division race.
After the 0-2 start, Christopher won a crucial tussle at Willow Glen 51-45. They came home and dumped Pioneer 62-50 and then faced a big challenge, with a hot Prospect team coming into the Cougars’ den.
In a back-and-forth battle, CHS prevailed 41-37 with clutch plays in the final two minutes. On Jan. 25, the Cougars built a big lead at last-place Leland and held off a late closing rush for a 59-55 win.
The Prospect contest marked the second straight time CHS prevailed down the stretch against another top competitor.
“We started out rough,” said Carrasco, after the Prospect game. “Against Evergreen Valley, we were tied with one minute left and lost. We’ve learned our lesson. We were able to pull through this time. We’ll continue to do that and we’ll finish the season strong.”
As the league hits the halfway point of the season, Evergreen Valley is on top at 6-0, though four of their wins are by just seven points or less. Branham, Christopher and Prospect are tied for second at 4-2. Feisty Willow Glen is a step back at 2-4. Further to the rear are Pioneer at 1-5 and Leland at 0-6.
In the Prospect game, Vallejos and Carrasco led the way with 11 points each. Tamone added seven points, Navarro contributed six and Sax scored four.
The victory was based on strong rebounding from Tamone, Durrand, Middleton and Lindsey Medina up front, along with Vallejos and Carrasco. Additionally, full-court pressure defense, led by seniors Vallejos and Carrasco, was crucial.
Prospect led 24-19 at halftime. Christopher regrouped at the break and came out with more energy, fierce defense and improved rebounding. In the third period, the Cougars outscored Prospect 13-2, holding the visitors to 1-for-8 shooting and forcing seven turnovers.
However, the Panthers fought back in the final stanza to even matters and pulled ahead late. The clock ticked under two minutes with Prospect ahead 37-36 when Carrasco made the play of the game, draining a three-pointer from the top of the arc. The CHS partisans in the crowd screamed loudly with the 39-37 lead.
At that point, the whole defense stepped up, as the Cougars protected the lead with four big stops, two on turnovers. Sax added two crucial free throws to make it a two-possession game with eight seconds left, and the game was in the win column.
“After halftime, it was just the team energy,” Vallejos said. “Everyone was pumped up. It took everyone doing what they’re supposed to do.”
Vallejos led the third quarter offense, scoring the Cougars’ first seven points of the period on a steal and coast-to-coast layup, a follow shot and a three-pointer from the right wing. The defense forced turnovers, bad shots and contested shots. The front line was rebounding on both the defensive and offensive glass.
“We just needed to stick with it, one possession at a time,” Carrasco said. “Coach stays on us to rebound and take care of the ball.”
Brown changed up defenses continually to keep Prospect off track. Sometimes man-to-man, sometimes zone, and different zones were used.
“I really think Shiloh was a huge difference,” Brown said. “Number 21 (Sadie Slaughter) was a big focus for us. She had 30 points against Evergreen Valley. Shiloh’s defense on her allowed us to go man-to-man. Shiloh was the biggest difference-maker.”
Vallejos’ clamp-down play, along with aggressive team defense, shackled Slaughter, who made just two buckets on the night and totaled only 12 points.
“It was a grind,” Brown said. “We got some offensive boards. At halftime, we wrote, ‘Bigs: Your mission in life is offensive boards’. That was a big focus. And turnovers. A lot of that has to do with Shiloh. She causes turnovers.”
Those two statistics told the tale. In the second half, CHS pulled down 10 offensive rebounds and forced 11 turnovers.
“In the last two minutes, we clamped down on defense,” Brown said. “Brooklyn made two free throws and that was big. We were off in our shooting tonight but we hit a couple when it mattered. This was a big boost for our confidence.”
The schedule features two big rematches in the coming week, a trip to Branham on Jan. 28 and a visit by Evergreen Valley on Jan. 30. Both contests begin at 7pm.
