With extra inspiration, Redondo dominated opponents to capture its first State girls basketball championship under 23-year head coach Marcelo Enriquez
Ryse Williams had to be looking down with a huge smile on his face.
The 18-year-old star of Redondo’s boys basketball team died of cancer just one day before his high school graduation last June. His spirit is being credited with propelling the Lady Sea Hawks to their first State title under 23-year head coach Marcelo Enriquez.
During its pregame warmup, the team wore T-shirts emblazoned with #RYSEUP, which the players put on again after the final buzzer. After each timeout, the team yelled “Ryse Up.”
“Ryse has been with us all year and we kept him in the forefront of our minds,” Enriquez said. “We broke every huddle shouting Ryse Up. Not only was he a great player, but he was down to earth, extremely humble, a hard worker and an exceptional young man.”
The inspiration paid off for Redondo (31-5), who defeated Northern California champion Pleasant Valley (25-5) of Chico 57-42 for the CIF-State Division 2 championship.
“It was a phenomenal game and I’m so proud of the girls,” Enriquez said. “We had eight different girls score, with three in double figures. It was a true team effort.”
Sophomore guard Alyssa Munn was the latest star for the Sea Hawks, scoring a team-high 17 points with four assists and five steals.
Juniors Dylan Horton and Jasmine Davis each recorded 11 points with Davis adding six rebounds. Freshman standout Calli Stokes contributed with nine points.
Pleasant Valley center Sirena Tuitele, who has signed with the the University of Colorado, scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but Redondo limited the rest of the Viking’s offense to a meager 34.7 percent.
“We wanted to make life difficult for their big player (Serena Tuitele),” Enriquez said. “We knew we wouldn’t shut her down but we did an exceptional job of limiting their guards (Chloe Mayer and Claire Garcia) from scoring. Their second leading scorer only had five points and they were 1 for 11 in 3-point attempts.”
With only three seniors on its team, which includes four sophomore and one freshman, Redondo is a diverse squad that hopes to excel in years to come.
During its State playoff run, the Sea Hawks had five different leading scorers in its five games where they outscored opponents 322-211.
In its 77-42 opening round win against Birmingham, Redondo was led by Kennedy Jackson and Calli Stokes who scored 14 points apiece.
Horton led the charge with 22 points in a 58-41 victory against Glendora, then it was sophomore Lauren Chao’s turn when she scored 19 points in a 74-43 win against Westchester.
Stokes continued to shine with a 17-point performance in a 56-43 victory in the SoCal Regional Championships against San Marcos.
Despite playing without standout sophomore guard Anna Johnson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury during Redondo’s win against Lynwood in the CIF-SS Division 2AA championship game, the Sea Hawk’s deep lineup found ways to win.
During the season, Redondo also played without Dylan Horton (ankle), Isaan Taylor (concussion), Jasmine Davis (ankle) and Lauren Chao (transfer).
“Our toughest opponent this year was Lynwood and I think I figured out our team was special when we went to Vegas and won the Tarkanian Classic and it was history from there,” Horton said.
Senior forward Ashlynn Autrey, who celebrated her 18th birthday with her teammates following the Sea Hawk’s championship win, felt the team chemistry surpassed that of any other team she has played for.
“Our toughest opponents in our drive to the State championship were Los Altos and Pleasant Valley,” Autrey said. “Los Altos was extremely physical and very athletic. We to had to punch and maintain our composure in the fourth quarter to win that game by three points. Pleasant Valley was persistent and had good chemistry, but seemed to get fatigued in the second half.”
Jasmine Davis also thought Lynwood was the toughest opponent for the Sea Hawks this season and enjoyed celebrating the State title with teammates, family and fans at a pizza restaurant.
“I realized our team was so special when everyone came back from injuries and from there, everything just fit together,” Davis said. “There were no problems and we had a great team bond. We are like sisters and solve everything together. We share the ball way more than we should sometimes, but that is just who we are. We want everyone to have success. We competed at every practice to make each other better.”
When the Sea Hawks went 1-3 in their own Battle at the Beach Tournament at the beginning of the season, Enriquez pulled the team together and his inspirational talk paid off.
Redondo went on to win the Jerry Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas and the Legacy Winter Basketball Festival in South Gate, both with 4-0 records.
“The kids just want to win and reach their goals,” Enriquez said. “We only have one player, Dylan Horton, who averaged double figures in scoring. Our talented freshman, Calli Stokes, is amazing for the things she does at such a young age. She has a great work ethic and is like a kid in a candy store when she’s on the court.”
Enriquez wanted his squad to have a positive affect, both mentally and physically, going in the State playoffs. He recognized the grind of the long season and began holding shorter practices. At the conclusion of league play, he emphasized what was expected of his girls, knowing they had the growth and maturity while maintaining their focus.
“One of our strengths is our team chemistry,” he replied. “Everyone gets along. They are a close-knit group that is deep in talent. In the course of a game, other teams have a drop off when their starters are substituted for, but we can replace our starters with players with almost the same ability.”
Enriquez compared this year’s team to his other State finalist, who lost to Stockton’s St. Mary’s squad 51-47.
“The closest we came to a title was when we went to the State finals in 2002 with Ofa Tulikihihifo,” Enriquez recalled. “We are a similar team to that one and glad to have a better outcome to finish our season.”
Some of the most memorable moments for Enriquez came when he coached his daughter Michaela (2013-16). In 2015, Redondo dominated Bay League rival Mira Costa in the Division 2AA championship game 60-37, before falling to Mark Keppel 48-44 in the Division 2 Southern California Championship game.
Enriquez said he is blessed to be Redondo’s head coach and is thankful for his talented supporting staff of coaches,who include Lynn Flanagan, Mike Martinook, Kevin Kobayashi, former Redondo standouts Cheri Hughes and Jerry Taylor.
“It was a long road — physically, mentally and emotionally,” Enriquez explained. “You need to have a certain mental toughness to achieve what we did and I give a lot of credit to our entire staff who kept the girls in check and prepared to play.”
He also credited strength coach Leslie Cordona for a year-round program that decreases to once or twice a week during the season.
“We try to do the same thing every year. We are committed to basketball 11 months each year,” Enriquez stressed. “We hold fundamental drills during the summer and keep our kids together during the Club season when we compete in a variety of tournaments. I found it beneficial to compete against All-Star teams. We’ve played about 80 games before we begin each high school season.”
