APTOS — The Cabrillo College women’s basketball team has eight new players but there has been no need for introductions. All of them have either played together, against each other or heard of one another.
Sophomore point guard Lauren Lacey, who is one of the Seahawks’ three returning players from last year’s squad, might be the only one who has had to make new friends.
A four-year varsity starter at Los Gatos High, Lacey is the lone player on the team that did not go to a high school in the 831 area code.
“I did not know a single one before I came to Cabrillo and I feel like they all know each other because they’re from the area,” Lacey said. “It’s been refreshing.”
And it’s also helped streamline the Seahawks’ progression through their first few weeks together.
Third-year coach John Wilson has four players from Aptos High and two from Santa Cruz High. Scotts Valley High, Soquel High, North Monterey County High and Pacific Collegiate School are also represented with one player each.
A few, like Aptos alumni Teal Maixner, Samantha De La Torre, Valerie Jimenez and Britni Fernandez, have played on the same team — all four are freshmen.
Others, like Scotts Valley alumna Grace Giguiere and Santa Cruz alumna Maddy Miller, have locked horns at the high school level.
And then there’s Pauli Pappas, who graduated from Santa Cruz in 2012 and already has a degree from a four-year university but decided to lace up the sneakers again to play for her uncle.
The last time Pappas played organized basketball, she led the Cardinals to a Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship and poured in 15 points per game in her senior season. She also helped Santa Cruz win its first and second Central Coast Section titles.
There might be a little rust, Wilson said, but her game is still there.
“Pauli hasn’t picked up a basketball in a long time but the basketball IQ is there,” Wilson said. “She gets it and I think a lot of them do.”
Pappas is one of a half dozen players on the roster that not only have a natural feel for the game but the experience of playing deep into the section playoffs at the high school level.
Maixner and Jimenez helped Aptos win its first CCS title since 1983 last season. As a senior, Giguiere was a focal point of a Scotts Valley team that advanced to a section final. Nthabi Anderson-Bahr was also a part of a pair of CCS-contending teams at Pacific Collegiate School.
“You don’t get that too often,” Wilson said.
Along with experience, Wilson has been blessed with size this season, too. Freshman center Sarah Bargetto, a Soquel High alumna, is the team’s true center at 5-foot-11 and Miller stands at a rangy 6-feet.
The leading scorer and top shot blocker for Santa Cruz last season, Miller can get out and run with the wings and guards. Her versatility and size has allowed Wilson to move Giguiere, who is 5-foot-10, back to her normal spot on the wing, where she can swish 3-pointers with the best of them.
“I like to shoot,” said Giguiere, who last year was one of the team’s top rebounders. “I know everyone knows that shooting is my thing but I just feel comfortable. Last year I was one of the taller players but now I’m in the middle.”
Sophomore forward Julissa Torres, an N.M.C. alumna, Anderson-Bahr and Jimenez are all 5-foot-9 and will see time at the four and five. Fernandez is only 5-foot-7 but plays bigger than her height and will play primarily at the three and four.
Giguiere, who also plays softball at Cabrillo, and Pappas, who is also 5-foot-10, can also play four in a pinch and will be asked to replace the scoring lost with the graduation of guard Amber Martinez, who is now an assistant coach for Wilson.
In the Seahawks’ first game against Marin, which they won by two points, Pappas paced the team with 20 points and Giguiere added 17, while Maixner, the team’s spark plug on both ends of the floor, chipped in with 12. Four other girls also scored.
Wilson feels like there are four to five girls that can lead the team in scoring on any given night.
“We’re a tight team. No one really cares about who scores the points; we just want to win,” Maixner said. “I love the spirit of this team. We’re really supportive and we pick each other up. I feel really good about this team.”
The Seahawks last year started the season on a six-game winning streak but Wilson said the team might not get off to the same hot start this season with a few juggernauts on their preseason slate, like Chabot College, Reedley College and Shasta College. However, those tough games, Wilson said, will get the Seahawks ready for what should be a competitive Coast Conference South division slate.
“We’re going to be competitive,” Wilson said. “They get along well and they support each other. It’s refreshing. That’s what keeps you coaching.”
