San Marino High School girls’ basketball team had a busy six weeks this summer for the 22 girls on the team. The squad put in work in the weight room and during its on-court practices that took place five days a week. San Marino traveled to the Burbank’s Burroughs High School summer league twice a week in addition to weekend tournaments at Covina Northview and La Salle in Pasadena.
“We faced tough competition, and by the end of the summer you could really see the improvement in our players as individuals and as teammates,” said Titans’ head coach Liz Reuter. “Our girls got to spend a lot of time together and they truly care about each other.”
The Titans are enjoying some well-deserved time off before tryouts begin on Aug. 17.
San Marino finished the 2022 season with a 13-12 overall record that included a 4-6 mark in the Rio Hondo League.
San Marino then went to the second round of the CIF Division 5AA playoffs, defeating Packinghouse Christian Academy of Redlands in the first round by a final score of 57-27 before dropping a heartbreaker to Lancaster’s Eastside High School in the second round.
“I was happy with how we executed defensively against Eastside,” Reuter said. “We got into some early foul trouble, but Elaine Wu and Sophia Papadopulos were able to come off the bench and keep up the intensity on defense. Our goal is to hold teams to under 40 points, but offensively we had a tough time scoring. Kailey Woo was important for us offensively. It takes a lot of courage for a freshman to take a potential game-winner. She had a great look and Gianna Karkafi got a big offensive rebound and got a good look as time expired. That’s the part of athletics that people don’t like to talk about – when you do just about everything right and still don’t end up on the winning side.”
Reuter is ready for the upcoming winter season and looking forward to her third season at the helm.
“Our girls play with grit and tenacity, and last year we were left wanting a little more,” Reuter said. “I think that you could also see that the girls really liked each other off the court, too. I would have to force them to go home after our practices ended or else they would have all stayed in the gym for hours just enjoying each other’s company.”
