T-Girls reap rewards for championship season

Petaluma High School’s girls basketball team was rewarded for an undefeated Sonoma County League championship season by having six of its players receive some sort of All-SCL honors.

The Petaluma All-League contingent was led by Co-Most Valuable Players junior Jaden Krist and sophomore Sheriene Arikat.

Petaluma coach Jon Ratshin was named Coach of the Year after guiding the T-Girls to a 12-0 league record and the post-season SCL Tournament title.

Krist was without question the league’s dominant inside player. Not only was she the league’s most intimidating defensive player in the paint, but the Petaluma offense flowed through her. She averaged 8.3 points per game despite her preference to work the ball back outside to open teammates. She also led the team with 5.4 rebounds per game.

Ratshin used Arikat as the first T-Girl off the bench, bringing her in early in games to give the T-Girls an instant spark of intensity and scoring. She led the team with an 11.1 points-per-game scoring average and was second to Krist with a 3.7 rebounds-per-game average.

Junior Kaileigh Pate was chosen to the first team. On a team that counted on defense and balanced scoring, she averaged 5.3 points per game and was a tenacious defender.

Nichole Costa was named to the second team. The senior not only brought excellent ball-handling skills to the T-Girl lineup, she sacrificed her own scoring totals to set up her teammates. She was still third on the team behind Krist and Arikat with a 5.4 points-per-game scoring average.

Seniors Courtney Temple and Kelsey Martin received honorable mention notice. They exemplified Petaluma’s team approach to the game, moving the ball, playing outstanding defense and unselfishly sharing playing time in Ratshin’s rotating-player approach, an approach that led to a championship season.

Analy senior Alexis Dibene and Sonoma Valley junior Annie Deles were chosen Co-Defensive Most Valuable Players.

Chosen to the first team were sophomore Hannah Webb and senior Natasha Marsden from Healdsburg, junior Ajnnika Ginter and senior Alyssa Schimm from Sonoma Valley and senior Claire Brown from Analy.

Selected to the second team were sophomore Hayley Sheridan from El Molino, sophomore Kennedy Midgley from Sonoma Valley, sophomore Kim Rodgers from Healdsburg, junior Isabel Housjman from Analy and senior Lizbeth Zavala and junior Mckenna Chantha from Piner.

Receiving honorable mention notice were senior Jessica Bynum from Healdsburg, senior Sydney VonGover from Sonoma Valley, senior Julie Ambrose from Analy, sophomore Hailee Walker from El Molino and seniors Erika Cruz, Isabella Bankmann and Karen Manzo from Elsie Allen.