Monterey Trail’s mantra as Mustangs aim for section playoff run: Play hard or go home
Dave Whitsett is old school and will apologize for none of it.
Members of the Monterey Trail High School girls basketball team understand that when their coach has just about had it in practice, his hands start rubbing his shaved dome and his face contorts into all sorts of irked expressions.
“They’ll know something’s up, like, ‘Uh, oh. Someone’s going home,’” Whitsett said with a laugh.
Going home isn’t a pleasant dismissal from the rigors of practice drills. It’s a heave-ho for lack of effort, and a sure sign of the coach’s mandate: Don’t come back until you’re ready to compete. Effort is the key word for the Mustangs of the Elk Grove Unified School District during this season of promise, which goes perfectly in line with trust, teamwork and all manner of defensive hustle. Those ingredients have rewarded Monterey Trail well.
Ranked No. 16 by The Bee entering the week and sure to climb, the Mustangs on Wednesday night defeated No. 10 Grant 56-43 at Monterey Trail with depth and desire. The Mustangs moved to 12-4 overall and 3-1 in the Metropolitan League while Grant dipped to 12-6 and 2-2 in a wide-open race that includes Bee-ranked programs McClatchy and Laguna Creek.
Lakayla Hale led Monterey Trail with 14 points and an unlimited amount of energy. The 5-foot-6 senior guard averages 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds, all while sporting a 4.0 grade-point average. And she knows the Coach Whitsett grimace and ejection thumb gesture. He is her Godfather and he has coached her since she was in the fifth grade. For all of her charm and in-game grit, Hale has no shortcuts with the boss.
“Practices are intense,” Hale said. “It’s work hard or go home. My freshman year, I found out. I was told to leave. So I left. Mom told me to go back and apologize for not playing hard enough. He was right. She was right. I always play as hard as I can.”
Hale credits her coach with molding her into a fierce player, one who is drawing college recruiting interest from programs such as Cal State East Bay and Weber State, in addition to a number of community college programs. She credits her mother, Kimberly, for instilling pride and resolve.
“It’s just mom — I haven’t had my dad in my life,” said the cheerful Hale, known as much for her smile as her intensity. “I do my best to make it easier on her. I chose not to be negative about any of it and I chose to do the best I can.”
She added about her upstart team, “The intensity is what gets us through. You can control effort. The thing about Monterey Trail basketball is everyone on the team can do something.”
Whitsett said team depth and that trust factor is exactly why everyone on the bench saw playing time against Grant, including the reserves finishing the game off for much of the final quarter. This approach creates a united team, makes for hard practices, and prepares every last player for the games that’ll really count — the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, which start next month. The Mustangs expect to reach the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, and they plan to stick around awhile.
To that end, Monterey Trail plays home games in front of the school’s talented and spirited band and the cheerleaders, often luxuries reserved only for the boys. It can get so loud that players have to lean in to hear their coach speak.
“I told the school when I got hired that we have to have the band and the cheerleaders for home games because it makes it a better experience, makes the kids feel special, and they talk to members of the band on campus,” said Whitsett, in his seventh season at Monterey Trail. “Playing the bench gets us ready. Playing with the loud band helps us. Don’t be afraid of pressure. Get used to it. My job is to teach the game and to get victories. When we play as well as we’re capable of, we can play with the upper teams like Antelope, Folsom and others.”
A 1981 graduate of Highlands High, where he was a multi-sport athlete, Whitsett is in his 37th year of area coaching, be it high school or spring/summer AAU or both. But he didn’t jump at the chance to coach girls until longtime coaching pal Sean Chambers, the successful coach at Antelope, convinced him to give it a go more than 20 years ago. They are like brothers, with Whitsett coaching a young Chambers at Highlands in 1983. They later coached together at Highlands and built Antelope into a section powerhouse.
“I didn’t want to coach girls, but said I’d do it for one year, because I thought they’d cry and whine,” Whitsett said. “I was wrong about that. They play hard. They give it their all. I’m hooked.”
The coach wants his players to remain hooked on effort, reminding them that college coaches want precisely that.
“They all want to play at the next level, a junior college or four-year school, and all coaches are looking for dogs — kids who really get after it,” Whitsett said. “So be that effort player they want. They already have their 20-point scorers.”
Monterey Trail’s floor leader is 5-4 senior guard Kiara Council, who averages 11.4 points, 4.5 assists and 4.5 steals. She had three points against Grant in addition to making passes and defending. Aaliyah Youngblood is another key senior guard who averages nearly nine points. She had 12 against Grant. Senior forward Paris Brown had seven points, junior guard Aalyiah Knox had five, and sophomore post Aniyah Whipper and senior guard Jada Grey combined for three points and a lot of hustle.
Three of Monterey Trail’s losses have come against Antelope, ranked second by The Bee; Northern Section No. 1-ranked Pleasant Valley of Chico; and longtime Metro League and regional power McClatchy, ranked fourth by The Bee.
“We’re getting better and better,” Whitsett said.
Whitsett’s assistants include Al Burgos, another well regarded longtime area girls coach.
Said Antelope’s Chambers, “Dave and me, we together built a tremendous program at Antelope. Monterey Trail told me they wanted a coach that was going to bring positive energy and that mindset. I told them that Coach Dave is the right man for you. He cares about his players like they’re his own kids. We old-school Highlands guys believe team, family and school first. We say we, not me. With Al Burgos in the mix, now you have two of the best guys in girls basketball on one sideline. I call them the dynamic duo. Good coaches but better people.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 9:37 AM.