Bee’s Best: 2024-25 All-Metro girls basketball lineups and Players of the Year

Before this season, the last time the McClatchy High School girls basketball team won a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship was March 3, 2007.

Three weeks later, Nina Cain was born.

Cain’s past and future were already secured before the 2024-25 season began. Her past involved cementing her status as one of the top players in all of Northern California over her first three years at the Sacramento City Unified School District campus. She was the 2024 Bee Player of the Year as a junior, and she repeated this season in closing out one of the great prep careers in regional history.

Her future is set as well. She’s headed to play college ball at the University of Washington, and as a senior, Cain wanted to make sure she just took care of the present. And that involved Cain leading the McClatchy Lions to the long-awaited section championship.

“Just going out in my senior year, I’m just trying to have fun and go out with a bang,” said Cain after the 64-53 Division I section title victory over Folsom at Golden 1 Center with a championship hat on her head, a net around her neck and a smile on her face.

Cain is the first repeat Bee Player of the Year in girls hoops since Jzaniya Harriel of Antelope, now a junior at Stanford, won it in three consecutive years from 2019–21.

Cain averaged 18.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.3 blocks for McClatchy, who sat at No. 2 in The Bee’s weekly girls basketball rankings for a majority of the season. But Cain’s 22-point, 12-rebound performance on the section’s biggest stage in the D-I championship game, vaulted the Lions into the No. 1 spot to end the season and into the CIF State Open Division tournament, the highest classification in the state.

“She just has a lot of drive,” McClatchy coach Jeff Ota said. “She plays really hard and is laser focused. That’s her main thing. One of her goals is that she wants to be the best on the court.”

Cain describes her relentless drive as if she has an alter ego on the court.

“Nina Cain is really two different people when she’s on the court and when she’s off the court,” she said. “When she’s on the court, that’s when she’s the loudest. She has that fire, she’s yelling, hyped. But off the court, as a person, I’m kinda mellow, very nice, very generous, just calm.

“Off the court, I’m a different person in a way. But still, nothing will ever change for my love of basketball. That’s always with me.”

That drive came from an early love of the game instilled from her father. She realized her potential around fourth grade after consistently being placed in AAU competition with girls two years older.

“It developed me in a way that I always wanted to seek something greater, something bigger,” Cain said. “Just knowing that if I can compete with girls two years older than me that have more experience, more development, if I can hang at that level, then when I go back to my own level, then it’s so much easier for me.”

Cain finished her career with a school-record 2,016 points to go with 990 rebounds. She is the first McClatchy player to break the 2,000-point threshold. In January, Cain was nominated for the prestigious McDonald’s All American Game. Although she didn’t make the final roster, Cain has bigger goals for when she’s done at Washington.

“I would dream to go to the WNBA,” Cain said. “I feel like I have the potential to make it and the drive to make it. That’s what I keep on striving for. That’s something I’ll continue to work for throughout my collegiate level. I’m just gonna keep rising my stock more and more and more and keep being myself.”

McClatchy’s Ota is Coach of Year

After guiding McClatchy to its first section championship in 18 years, one-time Lions star guard and now veteran coach Jeff Ota is The Bee’s Coach of the Year.

The Lions finished with a 25-7 record, including a 10-0 showing in the Metro League, which led to a No. 3 seed in the section’s largest-enrollment bracket. McClatchy’s journey to a blue banner went through a trip to Stockton with a hard-fought road victory in the semifinals over second-seeded St. Mary’s, the program with the most section titles ever at 22.

McClatchy then disposed of Folsom in the D-I championship game at Golden 1 Center, earning the Lions a berth to their first CIF State Open Division bracket, where they again went on the road to knock off fourth-seeded Acalanes in a spirited victory before falling to national powerhouse Mitty of San Jose.

Ota often credits assistant coach Jessica Kunisaki as “the real head coach” of McClatchy. Kunisaki, another McClatchy grad, led the Lions to a CIF State championship in 2015, when Ota was her top assistant.

“I give her a lot of credit for what we’ve done,” Ota said. “I’m thankful for the players, the program and the support from McClatchy. The admins are all behind the program. It’s also the dance and step (teams) and the Legion (student section). They’re all part of a winning program.”

Others considered for Coach of the Year:

▪ Josh Williams of Liberty Ranch, where he led the Hawks of Galt to the program’s first section championship.

▪ Geoff Harris of Faith Christian, where the Lions of Yuba City won their second section Division VI section championship in three years and the program’s first CIF NorCal crown.

▪ Steve White of Oak Ridge, where he won his 700th game at the El Dorado Hills school and kept the Trojans rolling despite injuries.

▪ Shiloh Sorbello of Woodland Christian, where he led the Cardinals to their first section finals appearance and then led to the first CIF State championship for a Yolo County school since the state format began in 1980.

Folsom’s Mindermann is Large School POY

On a loaded roster full of four-year varsity players headed to the college ranks, the model of consistency for the Folsom Bulldogs was senior Sophia Mindermann, The Bee’s Large School Player of the Year.

At 16 points per game, four rebounds and 39% from beyond the 3-point arc, Mindermann led the Bulldogs to their fourth straight CIF Sac-Joaquin Section finals appearance and the No. 1 seed in the CIF Division I Northern California playoffs. Although Folsom’s NorCal run ended abruptly, Mindermann led the team with 30 points in the regional opener.

Mindermann is headed to the University of the Pacific in Stockton to continue her basketball career.

Christian Brothers’ Harmon is Medium School POY

Over the past four seasons, Christian Brothers has collected a total of 111 wins — at least one playoff victory in each campaign — with two section finals and CIF State berths apiece. The common denominator for the Falcons: point guard Aleyah Harmon, The Bee’s Medium School Player of the Year.

Harmon averaged 12.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.7 steals for the Capital Valley Conference champions. She has more than 1,400 points, 500 assists and just under 300 steals and will continue her basketball career at Cal Baptist University.

“She’s a workhorse who doesn’t complain,” Christian Brothers head coach Shandyn Foster said. “She has always been OK with accepting a role. All that mattered to her since her very first year was the Ws in the win column.”

Harmon, the CVC’s Co-MVP for 2024-25, was also an All Metro First-Teamer in flag football in each of the past two seasons for Christian Brothers.

Colfax’s James is Small School POY

For the third straight season, Colfax has boasted The Bee’s Small School Player of the Year. In 2023, seniors Gabriella Biittner and Maycee Heimann shared the honor. Last year, junior Kaia Diederichs earned the award after helping the Falcons to their second straight CIF State championship appearance.

This year, it belongs to senior Juliette James.

The Chico State-bound post shared the spotlight with fellow seniors Diederichs and Laurlyn Massick, a trio that notched 121 victories over their collective four-year varsity careers. But it was James who led the team with 12.8 points and 9.2 rebounds. She eclipsed more than 1,500 career points this season and finished just shy of 1,200 rebounds. She went for 14 points and 12 boards at Golden 1 Center to help Colfax win its third consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section championship.

“Juliette is a force inside and tough to stop,” Colfax coach Rexanne Simpton said. “She is a gym rat and has worked hard on her game. So strong, competitive, physical, goes left or right. Any coach’s dream player.”

Faith Christian’s Harris is Smallest School POY

As the Sac-Joaquin Section’s leading scorer at 29.9 points per game and a record-setting 3-point shooter, Faith Christian junior Lauren Harris repeats as The Bee’s Smallest School Player of the Year.

Harris, who also averaged 14.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.9 blocks, became California’s all-time leader in career 3-pointers during the CIF NorCal playoffs in 28 fewer games than the previous record holder. She hit eight during the Lions’ Division VI NorCal championship victory to give her a state record 191 for the year and precisely 500 after three varsity seasons.

Her older sister, Audrey, also won the Bee’s Smallest School honor in 2022. The following year, the Harris sisters combined for more than 41 points and 20 rebounds en route to Faith Christian’s first section title. The Lions won their second blue banner this year with Lauren Harris averaging 35.8 points and hitting 51 3-pointers in six playoff games.

This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM.