by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

It’s safe to say no one would have batted an eye if the Claremont High School girls varsity basketball team struggled to retain its dominance this season. Their star forward Maryah Anderson graduated last spring and the program’s former coach Chilavo Anderson, Maryah’s father, did not return.

And, it’s the team’s first season in Division I. Last year, they competed in Division 2AA, and in Division 2A the year before.

But the Wolfpack found a new gear, winning its third consecutive Palomares League title and finishing 9-1 in league, 19-7 overall. The girls are now eyeing a run at the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section title. Their first playoff test, against Chaminade, took place after press time Thursday.

Interim head coach Gentry Robertson said some postseason opponents may write Claremont off. That would be a mistake.

“There’s no reason that we can’t be the guys sneaking around and going to take the whole thing,” Robertson said on Tuesday.

Claremont High girls basketball team interim head coach Gentry Robertson instructs junior guard Khrysma Johnson at practice Tuesday. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The team’s success has been the result of digging deep, according to senior guard and captain Jessica Lopez.

“It was just hard work,” Jessica said. “I would say hard work and just stacking the days.”

The previous two seasons’ titles were shared between the Wolfpack, Glendora, and Bonita, with three-way ties for first each year.

This year Claremont sits alone at the top.

“This is our own,” Jessica said. “We kept on saying, ‘Get our own. Get our own,’ so that really pulled us through. These girls, who put in hours together, we see each other at school, and then we see each other at the gym, we’re a family.”

Both Jessica and junior guard Khrysma Johnson commended first-year interim coach Robertson. Robertson, who has coached varsity boys football and girls flag football at CHS, said it was nerve wracking to follow Anderson.

“I come in more nervous and … I want them to have that same success because I see the same talent,” Robertson said. “And so, you’re like, well, I want to do the same thing. But you know, he’s [Anderson] a great coach. So, you just, you have those question marks in the back of your mind.”

The team is not the biggest, but Robertson’s emphasis on teamwork and defense proved successful. It also helped that the players bought into his coaching style early on, and that it had four returning starters to lean on.

Junior guard Suraya Haqq looks to pass at Tuesday’s practice. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Robertson also likes to remind his players they are playing a game.

“It’s varsity basketball. I get it: there’s Xs and Os. I get it that we’re trying to win,” Robertson said. “I play this sport; when you stop having fun and you start concentrating so much into the Xs and Os, what happens? You don’t shoot the ball right. You don’t play defense right because everything is tight. You’re not having fun with the game.”

This season’s “secret sauce” has been the team’s core defensive principles, Khrysma said. “Our defense wins everything,” she added.

Robertson has a hard rule in that he aims to keep opponents under 50 points. “That 50-point threshold … if we do that, we have a great chance of winning every game,” Robertson said. It’s a solid rule: the Wolfpack has given up more than 50 points four times in 26 games thus far this year, going 1-3.

In December, Claremont was the runner-up in a tournament hosted by Ontario Christian, the number one girls basketball team in the nation, according to Maxpreps rankings.

“We end up going against the number one team in the nation in Ontario Christian and I mean they beat us [77-29], but we got to see what playing against a team that has a team full of talent all the way around, one through five, what it’s like,”  Robertson said. “Even though we lost, we could have played them way better than when we played them and I think they kind of lit a fire in us, like, let’s go. We know what we got.”

Results from Thursday’s CIF-SS Division I playoff opener with Chaminade are at cifss.org/brackets, click “girls basketball” then the “Division I” bracket.

(L-R) Khrysma Johnson, Dilynn Hardison, and Suraya Haqq at practice on Tuesday. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo