Adam Her is making this basketball head coaching job look easy. In his first year as the El Capitan High coach, Her has led the Gauchos to a second consecutive Central California Conference championship and an impressive 24-2 record. El Capitan clinched the outright title with a 73-47 victory over Golden Valley on Tuesday night at Stable Center, which extended the Gauchos’ winning streak to 15 consecutive games.

 

Of course it helps that Her took over a team loaded with talent that was coming off their first CCC title last year. “My buddies give me a hard time,” Her said. “Our former coach, coach (Tyler) Dietz, gives me a hard time, but I’m not going to lie, the girls do a great job of making it look easy. I want to give them the credit that they deserve, they put in the work and so it looks easy to everyone else, but behind the scenes they are doing the work to make this possible.”

 

The Gauchos were off and running early against the Cougars as they opened with the first 10 points of the game. Senior Jordynn Middleton led the way, scoring seven of her nine points in the first two minutes. 

 

El Capitan had five players score at least nine points in the game. Mady Dietz and Alexis Valenzuela both scored 12 points to lead the way. Avnoor Bains added 10 points and Rayonn Maxie added nine points. Dietz added six assists and three rebounds and Middleton secured nine rebounds.

Ajaya Hudson scored all 15 of her points in the first half for Golden Valley. Alexis Diaz added 10 points for the Cougars.

 

The Gauchos posed for a team photo to celebrate the back-to-back CCC championships after the game. “It’s big but also it was expected,” Middleton said. “Last year we won it so there was no reason we shouldn’t have won it this year.”

 

The Gauchos will close the regular season on Thursday at home against Los Banos and then begin the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs next week. El Capitan is currently ranked No. 4 in MaxPreps’ Sac-Joaquin Section Division II rankings. A top four seed would give the Gauchos possibly two home playoff games. “Now that we’re there we’re gearing up for a playoff push,” Her said. “We have to stay locked in. It’s easy to lose focus as you’re getting to the end of the season. We know if you really want to make it to the next level we have to stay super sharp and vigilant in our practices.”

 

Middleton said the team has to keep their momentum going into the playoffs. “We have to play together, stay focused, not outside noise and train hard,” she said.

Atwater 55, Merced 46 – The Falcons defeated the Bears on senior night as Natalia Melgoza and Bella Villa both scored 11 points to pace Atwater (16-10, 7-2 CCC). Vanessa Chavez added nine points for Atwater, which will wrap up the regular season at Buhach Colony on Thursday. Averie Steverson led Merced (17-9, 4-5 CCC) with 17 points. A’Machi Turner and Samantha Barragan both scored 10 for the Bears.

Los Banos 56, Buhach Colony 31 – Taliyah Craft scored 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and three steals to lead the Thunder. 

 

Livingston 43, Johansen 36 – The Wolves jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter and held off the Vikings for a victory in their final home game of the season. 

 

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