Prep girls’ basketball: Antelope clinches 9th league title in a row with blowout win

Before Sean Chambers started coaching at Antelope when the school opened in 2008, he studied the league title banners at El Camino High School.

He wanted to build a program and have success like Bill Baxter, the former El Camino and Sacramento State coach. He’s well on his way to matching that success.

With 11th-ranked Antelope’s 70-32 win over Inderkum on Friday night at home, the Titans clinched their ninth Capital Valley Conference league title in a row.

“It’s now the expectation,” Chambers said. “Kids (who are incoming freshmen) are coming to watch the game. They’re coming in and they now the expectation of the program. When I came to Antelope, I was jealous of Bill Baxter. I would walk into (El Camino’s) gym and see 10 or 20 league titles in a row. When I came here, my goal was to get 10 in a row. We are getting there.”

Antelope star junior Mary Carter had a game-high 17 points in three quarters of play. Jasmine Hearn had 15, Michelle Rice added 14, Ivyana Samilton-Babcock had 10 and Juliana Chavez finished with eight.

This season for Antelope didn’t start like previous years. The Titans started 2-3, which included a three-game losing streak punctuated by 50-47 loss to St. Francis on Dec. 10.

Antelope’s season has been different since that moment. The Titans have won 13 of 14 and will be in prime position to be one of the top seeds in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division ll playoffs in mid-February.

A big reason for Antelope’s success is Carter, who transferred from Rocklin High School. The 6-foot-3 guard/forward made her season debut at the end of December and has averaged over 24 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks per game.

“Mary has really improved her game,” Chambers said. “She can do so many different things. I think she is the most all-around complete player in the area.”

The last time there was a postseason, Antelope beat Del Oro for the Division ll title. Since then, Antelope graduated the program’s best all-time players last summer in Jzaniya Harriel and Kaiija Lesane. Harriel is playing at Stanford and Lesane is at Weber State.

There are only two players on the current Titans’ roster that were on that section championship team. But as Chambers would say, if you build a strong program like he has since his arrival, success will follow, no matter who is on the roster.

“When my mother came to a game earlier this year, she told me she didn’t recognize one kid out there and you guys were phenomenal,” Chambers said. “I told her that’s what you call a program. It’s next man up.”

Antelope (15-4, 9-0) plays Vanden on Saturday. Inderkum (13-12, 6-3) will face Yuba City on Tuesday.