THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

At one point in the preseason the Whitney High girls basketball team was 3-3 and searching for identity. Since that time, the Wildcats have gone 6-1 and picked up the Monterey Bay Sweet 16 tournament championship along the way. The conversation as often been as to how young the Whitney squad is, but it would probably be more accurate to reference how battle-worn the ‘Cats are. They began the season with 10 players, are now down to nine and one is nursing an elbow injury. But Whitney head coach Sydney Gatson said her troops are healthy, for the most part. However, what may be more telling is the shared confidence the team now has. “The girls are playing with a lot of confidence within themselves and with each other – the most important part,” Gatson said. “I think they’re feeling prepared to be successful and to get into the playoffs.” With just one day of practice since Christmas, although the team was still competing, Gatson said the Wildcats came out sluggish against River Valley Jan. 3 and fell 65-57. It was their first loss since the 58-57 loss to Rocklin in the Quarry Classic. The team then bounced back to defeat Placer 56-43 the following night. The Hillmen game was their final preseason tilt before they opened Capital Valley Conference play hosting Bella Vista Monday. “I’m really excited for this upcoming conference play just with us, Antelope, Cosumnes Oaks and Roseville,” Gatson said. “If everything plays well, if it plays the way it should, we should be vying for that fourth spot.” The fourth spot – or even better; Whitney has the second best preseason record in the CVC. Although preseason records are not the best indicators of how a team will fare in conference play, in Whitney’s case it does show marked improvement over last season. Antelope and Cosumnes Oaks finished one-two in the CVC last year, Roseville fifth and the Wildcats seventh. In preseason the Titans were 11-0; the Wolfpack was 7-7. Antelope’s only regular-season loss was to Cosumnes Oaks. So far this season, the Titans are averaging 11 points less on offense and allowing 21 points more on defense. All four teams are averaging in the 50s on offense and the 40s on defense. Where the ‘Cats may have an advantage is they do not present any certain player for opponents to key on. This was pointed out to the team by a Mills coach, while scouting Whitney for the Sweet 16 championship. “Any player on any given night can give you that output,” said Gatson. “I think that’s one of our strengths is that we have a lot of different people that could step up just depending on the situation, on the night; so we’ve got a lot of people we can rely on.” The three players with the highest scoring averages are within two points of each other; the two players that follow are within a point. Four players average within a single rebound of each other and eight players have played in all 12 games. Nine players do not a deep bench make, but more importantly is what each player brings to the game when they come off that bench. Of course, statistics are for sports writers; reality begins Monday.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

WHITNEY’S BAND OF SISTERS TURNS TO CONFERENCE

JIM LINSDAU

Placer Herald | 1/11/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Whitney High School Athletics