Putting the 'Class' in Senior Class

It’s been something of a rocky season for Fountain Valley’s girls’ basketball team, but you’d never know it by the looks on their faces. Records aside, one would be hard-pressed to find a group of young women anywhere whose attitudes are better than those of the Barons. Up 30 or down 30, there is no end to the fight in their hearts or the smiles on their faces.

“I’ve taught them things, but they’ve taught me things as well,” Barons coach Saki Takemoto said. “One of the main things I've learned from them is having patience. I'm very competitive and very driven, and they've made me realize that I need to have a little fun, too, while coaching and playing. They've taught me that they need other things besides basketball—that you can still work on team bonding doing other things.

It’s in the Barons’ senior leadership where this attitude lives and breathes. They are four distinctly different players, but all with the same endless supply of scrap and heart. As Kimi Kamada, Allyson Yoshinaga, Christine Tran and Leslie La wrap up their high school hoops careers, they look back at what they’ll remember most, and at what the future holds.

The Floor General
Kimi Kamada’s all of 5-foot-2, but when she calls a play, it can be heard up in the cheap seats. It’s that kind of passion that brought her back from the knee injury that robbed her of her junior season, and it’s helped her become that classic floor leader whose contributions don’t always show up in the box score. And when they do show up, a Kamada hot streak usually spells bad news for the opposing team. She hopes to attend UCSD after graduation, where she wants to major in psychology.

"Just that fact that I could come back after being out for a season and play with the people I've played with all this time is my favorite memory," she said.

The Shooter
Inside or out, Allyson Yoshinaga never saw a shot she didn’t like. She’s the smallest player on the roster, but she might also be the most fearless. She’ll take it into the trees without hesitation, and then when the defense backs off, she can knock down shots from long range, grinning from ear to ear all the way. After graduation, Yoshinaga plans to major in kinesiology or nutrition at either Cal State Fullerton or Cal State Long Beach.

"Everything I've done with these girls has been the best time,” she said. “I'm going miss hanging out with them, and I'm just going miss them all. It's going to be sad to see them go."

The Natural
Christine Tran has only been playing organized basketball for a couple of years, but you’d never know it by watching her play. She started a few games during the course of the season, but she was at her best coming off the bench to provide an instant spark for the Barons at either end of the floor. She’s relentless on the glass, and fearless driving the lane, but off the court, she’s happiest spending time with her teammates. She’s hoping to attend UCSB.

"What I'm gonna miss most about basketball is all the fun activities—kayaking, Disneyland—those were all fun times," she said.

The Centerpiece
On an often undersized Baron team, Leslie La was a dominant presence in the post, fighting through double teams to get to the rim or fading to the baseline with, soft left-handed jumpers. When she wasn’t scoring, she was setting up teammates for jumpers of their own or closing down the lane on defense. She hopes to attend Cal State Fullerton or Cal State Long Beach after graduation, and she wants to study media arts and communication.

"I think what I'm going to miss the most is the really strong support system that we all received throughout our years here,” she said. The parents and the boosters—we have the best booster program of anyone here at Fountain Valley. They legitimately care for each and every one of us, whether it's JV or varsity or frosh."

In what seems like an appropriate reflection of the Barons’ senior leadership and quality of character, the four all agreed that they wanted to thank their coaches for everything they’ve been able to experience.

"It's not all about basketball,” La said. There's more to life, and they helped us evolve and players and as good people."