Colusa girls looking to contend for league title

Basketball purists have said for years now that the jumpshot has all but become a lost art in today's game.

But if you're a Mid-Valley basketball fan looking for pure outside shooting, look no further than Colusa High's girls team, which has two deadly 3-point marksmen to keep teams at bay.

And led by the high-scoring tandem of senior guard Meghan Foster and junior forward Caroline Meyers, coach Dak Kalisuch and the Lady Redskins look to have more than enough scoring punch to challenge Durham and Willows for the Sacramento Valley League title this winter.

"We're not a traditional team with a couple bigs inside," Kalisuch said. "We run kind of a four-guard set with Katie (Mobely) in the middle."

The spread-out attack is perfectly suited for the talents of Foster and Meyers, who have plenty of space to either drive to the rim or spot up for an open jumper.

"Meghan is in her third year playing varsity and she gets better each year," Kalisuch said. "She's developed into a legitimate outside threat."

Add to Foster the scoring and rebounding punch that Meyers provides, and the Redskins have two of the area's top performers on the perimeter.

"She's our top rebounder and her shooting has continued to get better," Kalisuch said of Meyers. "She can also drive to the basket and score, so she's really got a complete game."

While Meyers (13.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.4 spg) and Foster (12.8 ppg, 2.7 apg, 2.5 spg) both are excellent 3-point shooters and provide the bulk of the scoring, Colusa also has an inside presence in sophomore center Mobley, who chips in with 8.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Also in the mix for Colusa is senior forward Dana Mahorney as well as senior guards Tenille Tauscher, Alyssa Prophet and Kayla Cunha.

"We tend to have defensive breakdowns at times, so for us to compete we need to stay focused and play better defense for the entire 32 minutes," Kalisuch added.

While the Redskins can rely on a handful of seniors to provide the team with leadership, it's the opposite at Live Oak where coach Erin Walton has a young, talented team on the rise.

"I have two sophomores and a freshman on the team and all three are major contributors," Walton said. "You're only as strong as your weakest link, and right now our strength is our youth and our weakness is our youth."

While the Lions are young, they do have a solid, mature senior in guard Melissa Anderson, who is the team's unquestioned leader.

"She's been with us for three years now and she's the leader, backbone and heartbeat of the team," Walton said of Anderson, who has averaged 7.8 points per game while showing the underclassmen the ropes.

As for the youngsters, Walton appears to have a couple of sophomore gems in wing Amyah Clark and forward Paulina Heredia. Clark is the team's leading scorer at 9.9 points per game while Heredia has averaged 7.8 points and has emerged as the Lions' top glass-cleaner.

"Heredia is leading us in rebounds and has five or six double-doubles already, which is pretty good for a sophomore," Walton said.

Freshman forward Anijah Clark is another player Walton is depending on, along with senior forward Sandra Alcantar (7.0 ppg) and junior guard Jennifer DeWitt (6.7 ppg).

With only seven players on the roster, it's really no surprise that Pierce has struggled to a rough 2-6 start to the season. But the Bears do have two scoring options in Sara Nunez and Alison Ornbaun, both of whom average around 10 points per game.