Rayonn Maxie has worked her way into a bigger role this season for the El Capitan High girls basketball team. Gauchos first-year coach Adam Her says Maxie isn’t afraid of the spotlight and it showed against Merced on Tuesday night. Maxie scored a career-high 19 points to help lead El Capitan to a seventh consecutive win with a 67-45 victory over Merced on Clemons Court in the Central California Conference opener for both teams.

 

Maxie found herself making more of an impact on the defensive end last year as a sophomore. This year she’s helped the Gauchos on both ends, finishing in double figures scoring for the ninth time this season with her scoring outburst against the Bears. It’s another player to turn to for scoring on a team that already features two of the top scorers in the CCC in Alexis Valenzuela (15.2 points per game) and Mady Dietz (14.9 points per game). 

 

“We had her last year as a sophomore and there were a couple girls ahead of her, but we needed her to step up to the plate this year,” Her said. “We ask a lot out of her. She has shown she’s not afraid of the moment. When the lights get bright, she wants to go and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”

 

Maxie consistently scored in the paint against the Bears and also attacked in transition. She says she’s playing this season with a different mind-set. I have to be more aggressive, put points on the board,” she said. “Last year it was different. I felt like I had no confidence when I was playing. This year, I feel I finally found who I am and I think that’s kind of showing on the court now.”

 

It was an early conference test for both teams with Merced (13-5) and El Capitan (16-2) both entering conference play with the top overall records during non-conference play among CCC teams. The Gauchos showed why they are the preseason favorite to win a second consecutive title as Valenzuela scored 15 points, Deitz 13 and Avnoor Bains added 11 points. 

The Gauchos blitzed the Bears with 20 first-quarter points and built the lead to 38-19 early in the second half. El Capitan used its press effectively and turned turnovers into quick baskets. “That's our bread and butter,” Her said. “We're going to let our defense take us into our offense, because that's where we should get the bulk of our easy points. We have a great system, but it can be really hard. It requires a lot of running, but when the girls  buy in it looks great.”

 

The Bears battled their way through foul trouble as Merced coach Willie Steverson had to sub girls in and out of the lineup to protect many of his starters who were in foul trouble early. Merced then made an impressive 14-2 run in the third quarter to cut the 38-19 lead to 40-33 with 4:10 left in the third quarter. Averie Steverson scored five of her team-high 12 points during that stretch. 

 

Willie Steverson was proud of his team’s ability to fight back and battle through adversity with foul trouble. “It was hard to operate with some of our better girls not out there at times,” Willie Steverson said. “I’m proud of our girls, the way they responded. We had some players come in off the bench. A’machi Turner came in and had a great game, rebounded the ball, getting putbacks. Antonia (Lejarde) had a great game on the defensive side, getting some steals. But the fouls did set us back. If this would have happened last year we would have lost by 50. The group that we have now, they’re resilient for the most part. We still have some emotions that we have to kind of work through, but we played hard tonight.”

 

The Gauchos were able to close out the third quarter with an 8-0 run with the help of 3-pointers from Maxie and Valenzuela to extend the lead back to 48-33. El Capitan then controlled the fourth quarter to pick up the victory. The Gauchos will host Buhach Colony on Thursday and the Bears travel to Los Banos. 

Atwater 77, Los Banos 25 – The Falcons (10-8) began their quest for a sixth consecutive CCC championship with an emphatic road victory. Mackenzie Wilkinson scored 16, including four 3-pointers to lead a trio of Falcons in double-figures. Riley Leonardo chipped in with 14 points and Natalia Melgoza added 10 points. Atwater will host Golden Valley on Thursday.

 

Golden Valley 65, Buhach Colony 29 – The Cougars opened league play with a victory over the Thunder to improve to 9-10 overall. Alexis Diaz led four GV double-figure scorers with 12 points. Zoe Gonzales, Kaylin Scheurich and Jazelina Santillan all scored 11 points for the Cougars. Buhach Colony dropped to 4-13 overall on the season.

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.