SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone: GIRLS BASKETBALL PREVIEW - South Pasadena, La Salle
Both team enter the season with high expectations.
Dylan Tse, South Pasadena HS (Photo: South Pasadena HS)
South Pasadena High School
Coach: Cody Masden
Assistant Coaches: Nick Rico, Kevin Kohler, Cameron Masden, Emma Hansen
2022-23 Record: 19-11
Key Players
Dylan Tse #21 5ft 7”(senior) last year avg. 20ppg 7reb 3ass 3stl
“Dylan will be entering her final and best year of her Hs career to date. She passed 1500 points scored for her HS career last year and will be passing 2000 career points scored about midway through this year. She is in my opinion the best player in the San Gabriel valley and we look to showcase that this year. She has multiple D2 & D1 offers and looks to settle on a school soon. I expect over 25ppg from Dylan this year and she should be one of the top 3 point threats.” — Coach Masden
Kayla Boozer #21 (Junior) 6ft last year 15ppg 10rpg 2blk
“Kayla has had a massive improvement of her game this off-season. With multiple D1 offers coming her way Kayla is primed for her best season. Should be well over 20ppg and close to 15rpg. Her shooting touch is going to be really tough for teams to gaurd she has extended her game out to the 3 and developed great back to the basket post up skills. There will be no answer for other teams guarding Kayla this year and the combo of her and Dylan will be tough for teams to game plan.” — Coach Masden
Other key players
Jamie Rain Kim #22 (senior) 5’7” - 7ppg last year. “Jamie Rain will be our leading 3 pt threat this year an absolute knockdown shooter and she looks to showcase her passing game this year as well.” — CM
Maddie Park #3 (Soph) 5’6” - “Maddie started the majority of games for us last year serving as our premier defender taking on the task of guarding the opposing teams best gaurd. She will look to duplicate that role this season as well as adding a new focus to her offensive game as well, Maddie will be looking towards 1st team RHL honors and could wind up being a leading scorer for our offense as well.” — CM
Coach Masden Comments: “I believe we will be a top 3 if not the top team in 2AA this season. Our Key players are all upper classmen. We look to make a CIF title run and very few losses on the record this year. This is looking to be our best year to date. With multiple returners on our squad this year they have done nothing but improve all year as we went out to the Section 7 tournament this summer in Arizona and had a great offseason. The tigers look to make some noise in the SGV.”
CRYSTAL BALL: Make no mistake, the loss of Allysan Tse is a major loss for this program. However, her younger sister Dylan is back and she really makes this team a CIF-SS championship contender. She is ruthless from behind the three-point arc and plays with a certain toughness that you don’t see in a lot of girls. Boozer probably earned the title as the area’s most improved player. Not only is she a major low post threat, but, as coach Masden points out, she can step back and hit the the money ball from behind the arc. Throw in senior Kim and talented sophomore Park and you can understand why those inside the program are very excited for the season to begin. You can be sure that the Tigers will start the season no worse that 5th and will be the overwhelming favorites to win the Rio Hondo League.
La Salle 2022-23 Championship Team Photo. (Escarcega)
La Salle HS
Coach: Scott Wiard
Assistant Coaches: Richard Wiard, Wally Ashby, Julia Macabuhay, Jurhandi Molina
Projected Guards Returning
Audrey Chen - Senior- two-time CIF-SS POY and Wooden Award Winner - 14.7 PPG, 6 RPG, 3 APG, 2 SPG
Kaden Cortes - Junior - Two-time all league - 8.7 PPG
Projected Forwards Returning
Casey Higgins - Sophomore - First team all CIF-SS as a Freshman - 10.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG
Julianne Tan - Sophomore - Started every game as a freshman - 3.5 PPG
Top Newcomers
Emily Fong, Freshman Guard
Maddy Chiang, Freshman Guard
Erica Fan, Freshman Guard
Coach Wiard’s Comments: “Our team is probably the deepest we've been during our tenure here. We have a lot of capable players that can contribute in a variety of ways. We can be difficult to guard as every player on the floor is capable of making plays for themselves and others. Defensively, we are quicker than we've been and should be able to guard the ball well. As usual, we are a bit undersized for our league and division. Our team will have to be committed to being physical and rebounding the basketball consistently.”
CRYSTAL BALL: It’s been quite a run at La Salle as they have won two consecutive sectional titles and have made deep runs in the state playoffs. Well, sooner or later we knew that the Lancers would be in Div. 1 - and that is exactly where La Salle will be in the post season. Don’t feel sorry for them, they are going to be very good again and will contend St. Paul for a league title. Audrey Chen is a magician with the basketball and was a deserving winner of the Wooden Award. She is back for one more year and if you are a basketball fan, you need to watch her play. Kaden Cortes is back for her third year on varsity and Casey Higgins played a huge role for the Lancers in last year’s playoff run. She’ll be a problem for anyone in the league. La Salle will start the season as the top ranked team in our area rankings and should be fun to watch again in 2023-24.