Three Lady Bears come away with SCL postseason basketball honors

A total of three Mount Shasta Lady Bears came away with Shasta Cascade League honors recently.

We were very fortunate to have the SCL coaches vote for our team to have three all-league selections and Asia really deserved it. She is a tremendously well-rounded and athletic player and led the league in minutes played.

Junior Yuki Cannon and sophomore Asia Hendrix came away with All-League honors. Senior Ashija Garner was an honorable mention pick.

The Lady Bears finished 5-5 in SCL play and earned a Northern Section Division 5 ,playoff berth downing Williams in a first-round contest 54-18 at home on Feb. 18.

MSHS ended the season with a loss to Durham to end the year 12-15 overall.

Below is an overview of each player by Mount Shasta head coach Kirk Andrus.

Yuki Cannon

Yuki had a great junior year. She was our leading scorer (10.4 ppg) and rebounder (10.3) on the season (making just two more points than rebounds).

She worked on getting stronger in the off season and it really showed as she became a dominant rebounder, leading the Shasta Cascade League in rebounding.

She was also third in the SCL in blocked shots with 31. Her consistency really helped us as she had 11 "double doubles" on the season. I believe that she won every jump ball the entire year! Yuki is a very reliable player and teammate and became a much better defender this year. We look forward to having her for another season.

Asia Hendrix

In fact, just five days after a significant sprained ankle she returned to action and played every minute of the game against Trinity. She was our most important player to have on the floor and developed in her sophomore year as the best individual defender in the league. When able to play without fouling she dominated her matchups defensively. Aside from being a shut down defender Asia was our best ball handler and developed into a reliable 3 point shooter.

She was second on our team in 3-pointers made and made a very solid 33 percent from range. She was second in the SCL in assists with 83 and third in the SCL in steals--but was the only player in the top 15 in steals to play on a team that did not press full time or she would have had many more. She made great strides in her second varsity season and we look forward to her further development.

Ashija Garner

I was very pleased that Ashija was named to the all-SCL (Honorable Mention)team. As a senior, she was fully recovered from reconstructive knee surgery her sophomore year and really came alive.

We played our best basketball when she played well. Her length really helped us and it was fun to see her develop a 3-point shot to where it became a weapon during games. Last year the girls would cheer while watching her make them in practice.

This year she made 12 in games including some really important shots. Ashija led the team in field goal percentage and was our second-leading scorer and rebounder.

She was second in the Shasta Cascade League in blocked shots with 37 and led the league in taking charges!

Her teammates and coaches love her and we'll really miss her next year.