Central Cali's D2 Section Semifinals: BCHS v. Monache Standouts

Bakersfield, CA - This past Friday night, February 20th, I attended the ladies Division 2 Section semifinals, featuring the #1 seed Bakersfield Christian Eagles and the #4 Monache Marauders. The Lady Eagles got out to an 11 to 3 start connecting on a part of threes to help open up an early lead. The score was 16 to 7 at the end of the first quarter before some unforeseen events took place, which resulted in two players being removed from the game. The Marauders took advantage of this, as it seemed to impact BCHS more, and as the half came to a close, Monache had closed the gap to a four point deficit, 19 to 15. The game was still close heading into the final quarter, 29 to 23, before the Lady Eagles, led by Kalaya Miller, extended the lead to double-digits and pulled out the win, 43 to 32, and a trip to the Division 2 Section title game this coming Friday at Selland Arena in Fresno. In this article I look at 6 players that had standout showings, as well as the following information: player's information, relevant statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets and how they performed in the game. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with Shelley Andrade.    Andrade had a strong showing against the Lady Eagles and was the main reason the Marauders were able to keep it close in the first half. Andrade scored nearly half of Monache's points in the first half, putting up 7 of the team's 15 points going into the break, which was enough to keep pace with BCHS who scored 19 in the first half. Andrade would add on five more points in the second half to finish with a game-high 12 points to go along with his 7 rebounds, showing her ability to crash the boards on the offensive glass and earn second chance points, or limit the opposition to single shot opportunities. Andrade moves well off the ball to find gaps in the defense, gets open in the dunker spot, cuts to the middle of the key, and is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the dribble. Solid defender that can stay in front of perimeter players, as well as hold up against bigger players in the post.     Bartlett has been one of the top players in the 2026 class since her freshman year, and she had a strong 4th quarter showing to try and get her team back, before falling short to the Lady Eagles in the D2 Section playoffs, 43 to 32. Bartlett didn't shoot great the first 3 quarters of the game, but displayed her overall skill set by playing solid on-ball defender, instinctual help defense, and stayed active on the glass, which was evident with her 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Bartlett got going in the fourth quarter, as she did all she could to keep her team within striking distance, scoring 8 of her 11 points in the final frame. Despite the valiant effort and quality stat-line, the Marauders fell short to BCHS and wraps up a stellar high school career for Monache. Bartlett has solid handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, has the court vision to find open players off the drive and kick pass, or timely reads to players cutting off the ball. Bartlett has good moves, using the crossover, between-cross, and behind-cross to get her defender off balance, is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the bounce, and is a creative scorer around the basket, with the reverse and Euro-step lay-ups to evade shot-blockers.     Garza had some timely buckets and did a great job being more of a primary ball-handler in the Lady Eagles win over Monache after standout freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1268725' first='Brielle' last='Medrano'] left the game at the end of the 1st quarter.The Lady Eagles struggled to find a groove after her departure, but Garza stepped up and filled that gap, scoring 7 points and dishing out 4 assists, displaying her ability to be more that a catch and shoot player on offense. Garza has solid handles, uses the crossover and between-cross to create space from her defender, moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, and has the court vision to make quality reads to open teammates off the pick and roll action or the drive and kick pass. She will be called upon to have a productive game in the D2 Section title game against an athletic and skilled Sierra Pacific squad.     Miller has been one of the top scorers for the Lady Eagles, who had a 31 point game the last time I saw her in-person. Miller scored on a couple of baskets in the first quarter, but was held to only 2 points in the second and third quarters, which would allow the Marauders to stay within striking distance. With BCHS going into the final quarter with a 6-point lead, 29 to 23, Miller heated up and scored 6 of her game-high 12 points in the final frame of the game, which helped the Lady Eagles stretch the lead to double-digits and a 43 to 32 win to advance to the D2 Section title game this coming Friday night. Miller has a strong handle on the ball, the moves to create off the dribble, a good burst of speed off the bounce, and has touch on the floater, as well as the strength to score through contact around the basket. Miller is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line, is a tough on-ball defender with good footwork and active hands to generate steals, as was evident with her 4 steals against Monache, and good timing to block shots from the weak-side. Miller crashes the boards and gets easy points on put-backs, limits opponents to single shot possessions with the handle to push the ball up the court, and added 8 rebounds to go with her 12 points. Miller will be called on to lead the charge in scoring the ball against Sierra Pacific of Hanford in the title game.     Nichols was an absolute dominant force in the paint to help lead the Lady Hawks to defeat Monache and earn a trip to the D2 Section championship game. Nichols was relentless, crashing the boards on both ends and finished with an outstanding showing of 18 rebounds, showcasing her ability to seal off her opponent, extends her arms with good timing on the jump, and pulls the ball down but keeps it chest high and prevents smaller players from poking out the ball. Nichols gets good positioning in the paint to receive entry passes, gets put-back buckets off the offensive rebound, makes the outlet pass to get up the court, and has active hands to deflect passes or jump passing lanes, which resulted in 3 steals, and will need to increase her scoring output and rim protection against Sierra Pacific.     Prestridge came up big in the Lady Eagles win over Monache, as she would come in clutch with a pair of threes and timely buckets when her team was in need of a score. BCHS was scoreless for a large portion of the second quarter, and the impact of Medrano's exit from the game seemed to take its toll on the whole team. But it was Prestridge who came through with the only bucket in the 2nd quarter, a 3-pointer, to give her squad a little cushion going into the break. Prestridge added four more points in the second quarter, as the Lady Eagles extended its lead to 6 points going into the final quarter, for a total of 10 points. Prestridge crashes the boards, alters or blocks shots in the paint, as well as the ability to close out on perimeter shooters, and jumps passing lanes to get steals, which was evident by her 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Prestridge will need to bring the shooting and a scorers mindset to the Section title game, and her 3-point shooting will be called upon to help open up the court.

Bakersfield, CA - This past Friday night, February 20th, I attended the ladies Division 2 Section semifinals, featuring the #1 seed Bakersfield Christian Eagles and the #4 Monache Marauders. The Lady Eagles got out to an 11 to 3 start connecting on a part of threes to help open up an early lead. The score was 16 to 7 at the end of the first quarter before some unforeseen events took place, which resulted in two players being removed from the game. The Marauders took advantage of this, as it seemed to impact BCHS more, and as the half came to a close, Monache had closed the gap to a four point deficit, 19 to 15. The game was still close heading into the final quarter, 29 to 23, before the Lady Eagles, led by Kalaya Miller, extended the lead to double-digits and pulled out the win, 43 to 32, and a trip to the Division 2 Section title game this coming Friday at Selland Arena in Fresno. In this article I look at 6 players that had standout showings, as well as the following information: player's information, relevant statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets and how they performed in the game. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with Shelley Andrade.