Hillers’ Campbell: More than 200 W’s

PREVIEW — 2024-25 EAST COUNTY PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL

Compiled by Nick Pellegrino
ECS Senior writer

FLETCHER HILLS – A brief overview of boys and girls basketball teams in the Grossmont Conference and East County entering the new year:

Grossmont Hills League

Grace Campbell, Grossmont High girls basketball head coach

Grossmont: Foothillers head coach Grace Campbell reached her 200th career victory.

On Wednesday (Dc. 18), the Hillers defeated nemesis Eastlake, 67-21, in the opening round of the Mission Bay Tournament.

During Campbell’s career, Eastlake eliminated Grossmont from CIF San Diego Section competition, om the 2011 championship contest. Since then,the Hillers have captured three straight from the Titans.

Grossmont went on to capture the tournament championship on Friday (Dec. 20).

Interestingly, all of Campbell’s “milestone” wins — Wins No. 1, 50, 100, 150 and 200 — all occurred in December.

Grossmont is off to a 12-1 start, but it’s not the best stretch in school history.

In 20-16-17, Campbell’s troops opened 12-0 before dropping their next two contests, so a triumph in their next start– at home to Bonita Vista on Jan. 2 (4:30 p.m. tip-off) — will break the mark.

Leading the way for the Hillers is sophomore Aakash “Cash” Price. Playing both point guard and forward, Price is team leader in scoring (29.8 ppg) rebounds.(10.4), assists (3.3) and steals (3.8), making her an early frontrunner for Player of the Year consideration in the Grossmont Hills League.

El Capitan: The Vaqueros (11-2) are also off to their best start since the Duffy sisters commanded the court at the start f the century — one of the siblings, Allison, tied Santana’s Jordan Franey for the East County scoring record of 2,189 toc onclude the 2005-06 campaign.

Junior guard Keira Heinricy paces the squad in scoring (13.0), followed by senior center Paige Worthem (12.3)/

The Vaqueros cap the calendar year by hosting tournament games on Friday (vs. Poway at 9 a.m., then Saturday and Monday nights.

Granite Hills: Kerstena Tomika leads the Grossmont Hills League in scoring at 30.7 per outing.

Reaching double figures in scoring in every contest, Tomika owns a season-best 39 points against Patrock Henry on Dec. 13.

Meanwhile, the Eagles are waiting for Mount Miguel transfer Jaylene Hughes, the defending state scoring champion as a freshman, to become eligible.

Helix: The Highlanders (7-4), the defending GHL co-champions with Grossmont, are led by Jordyn McMillan.

A senior center, McMillan registered a season-high 22 points to almost single-handedly outscore Our Lady of Peace in a 53-25 decision.

Elsewhere, Steele Canyon (7-9) and West Hills (3-4) are barely under .500 despite challenging schedules and will challenge the teams above them.

City League

Christian: The Patriots (9-7) dropped a 3-point thriller to Grossmont. A different result could’ve moved Christian into the San Diego Union-Tribune poll.

In that contest, senior point guard Maepon Johnson led the Pats with 16 points, but the player to look out for is freshman wing Leash Spears.

Of course, Christian holds, literally, a huge home court advantage — the court at Ryan Center is a collegiate/pro length of 94 feet; high schools normally play on an 84-foot court — keeping them strong in the second half against tiring opponents.

Patrick Henry: The Patriots (9-3) seem to be a middle-of-the-pack program if they played in the Grossmont Conference. They own wins over Steele Canyon, Valhalla and Monte Vista, but in their last outing were crushing by Granite Hills.

The biggest competition in the City League seems to be undefeated Madison (albeit, just 3-0), and Christian, which has played a far more difficult schedule.

Still, one computer poll ranks the Patriots as the section’s top Division 4 program entering the holidays.

Grossmont Valley League

Santana: The Sultans (11-1) are off to their best start since the days when Hall of Fame head coach Wade Vickery patrolled the sidelines.

A defense-oriented club, included is a current 8-game winning streak heading into Friday’s (Dec. 27) tournament opener against Mira Mesa.

West Hills: The Wolf Pack (8-2) are a bubble ballclub: too good for Division 2, yet can’t quite compete against Division 1 schools.

Currently riding a 5-game winning streak (including three by 6 points or less), West Hills does not release its stats, so the top players are unknown.

Mount Miguel: Following the departure of Jaylene Hughes, the state scoring champion at 38.7 points per contest as a freshman the Matadors seek to rebuild once again after their record 23 consecutive league titles were snapped.

“The Mount” now sports its fourth head coach in three seasons in Carl Sharpe

The assistant is former Matadors standout Christine Fitzgerald, one of the rare two-time East County players of the year (2001-02, 2002,03), and a three-time member of the all-East County team. LINK

The other GVL ballclubs are El Cajon Valley, Monte Vista and Valhalla.

Other Schools

Foothills Christian: The Knights (2-2) are coming off a home-and-home series split with NC-High Tech High.

The top seniors are Kate Botticelli and Makayla Davis.

The school will split its home games between Greenfield and Las Coches Creek middle schools.

Julian: The imneaten Eagles (2-0 started the season late, yet swept a home-and-home series from the Dragons of San Pasqual Academy.

The Manzanita League is down this season, with the only team in the way of stopping the Eagles is the Warner High Wildcats (7-2) of Warner Springs, as Julian attempts to capture its first league crown since 2006-07.