Memorial High girls basketball tastes a touch of glory again
This is the school that Jackie White once competed for, and that name resonates mightily throughout the Central Valley.
White is the greatest high school girls basketball player to come out of Fresno, pride of San Joaquin Memorial, class of 1980.
A 5-foot-10 guard, White was a three-time Cal-Hi Sports Player of the Year who could drop 42 on you when she wasn’t going for 47. She went on to college stardom at Cal Poly Pomona and Long Beach State. She never stopped scoring and dazzling, becoming the second woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters, who dribbled and clowned their way across the planet.
Now coaching the Edison High girls in Fresno, White still makes time to keeps tabs of Memorial, including a pregame pep talk before a recent playoff game. She wasn’t on hand Thursday night in Elk Grove, but her spirit of competition certainly was as No. 5-seeded Memorial rolled past No. 4 Laguna Creek 57-36 in a CIF Northern California Regional Division II quarterfinal.
The young Cardinals of Laguna Creek were given a close-up view of tradition-rich hoops as the Panthers were crisp, efficient, in tune and tough, pulling away from a 32-22 halftime lead to blow it open. Balanced scoring, defense and sheer effort paved the way for the four-time defending Central Section champions, who moved to 24-8 and now take their act to the East Bay on Saturday with a semifinal at top-seeded Oakland Tech, a 61-60 winner over American of Fremont on Thursday.
“We have a long history of of basketball at our school, boys and girls, and that includes Jackie White,” Memorial coach Cory Fischer said. “I love to hear what Jackie has to say. We see the game and life the same way. The kids like listening to her. I’m not sure they fully understand how great she was, but she was great.”
Meadow Roland and Macie James are the current-edition stars in Panthers red, white and navy colors. Roland is a 6-1 freshman forward who had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the 5-11 James, a junior, had 11 points. She is the team’s leading scorer with a 16.3 average.
Senior forward Sarah Garrett scored eight and junior forward Trinity Scott seven for Memorial.
The Panthers eliminated a Laguna Creek team that is on the fast-track to establishing its own tradition. Memorial opened on the west side of Fresno in 1945. Laguna Creek opened 25 years ago in the Elk Grove Unified School District. The girls basketball teams surged to Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championships in 2002 and 2003.
Two years ago, it was rock bottom, a 3-24 team desperate to find itself under first-year coach Cody Norman. Flanked by a talented group of freshmen last season, the Cardinals went 26-4. This season, the campaign ends 28-4 for Norman, whose team battled foul trouble and the pesky defense of the Panthers. Memorial toughened up for an anticipated section and NorCal title run with early season games against national powers Mitty of San Jose and St. Mary’s of Stockton, crushing losses that helped shape the program.
Fischer said, “I love my team. They play hard.”
He had to learn the team on the fly, hired late in the summer. What he found was an eager lot of girls who had grown up together with basketball their bond. Fischer can appreciate the joys of prep sports, even from his vantage point.
“I went to Clovis High and I played 27 minutes of varsity basketball in my career,” he said with a laugh. “I still got into coaching. I love it. We have a good group. Our section championship game was the first time I yelled at them all season.”
After this game, the coach urged his players to come in for a quick postgame chat, then ushered players to the bus for the long trek back to Fresno on a school night. Saturday’s another road trip well worth taking, the coach said. Memorial lost to Oakland Tech 54-53 on Dec. 27 in the West Coast Jamboree despite not having one of its top players in James.
“We’ve gotten a lot better,” Fischer said. “I really like our draw. We’ll take it. We know Oakland Tech is really good.”
So are these Panthers.
CIF Northern California Regional girls basketball
Division I
Salesian 70, San Ramon Valley 47
Pinewood 49, Miramonte 47
Clovis North 54, Heritage 52
Menlo School vs. O’Dowd, Friday
Saturday semifinals, 6 p.m.
No. 5 Pinewood at No. 1 Salesian
No. 3 Clovis North vs. Menlo-O’Dowd winner
Division II
Oakland Tech 61, American 60
Memorial 57, Laguna Creek 36
Del Oro 58, Sacred Heart 51
Clovis 69, Sacred Heart Prep 61
Saturday semifinals, 6 p.m.
No. 5 Memorial at No. 1 Oakland Tech
No. 3 Del Oro at No. 2 Clovis
Division III
Aptos 62, Lick-Wilmerding 58
Woodside Priory 80, St. Pat-St. Vincent 45
Los Gatos 47, Palo Alto 44
Saint Mary’s 58, Vanden 50
Saturday semifinals, 6 p.m.
No. 8 Aptos at No. 5 Woodside Priory
No. 14 Los Gatos at No. 2 Saint Mary’s
Division IV
Colfax 61, Half Moon Bay 34
Pleasant Valley 37, Mills 36
Sierra Pacific 72, Hanford 63
Argonaut 60, Cloverdale 49
Saturday semifinals, 6 p.m.
No. 5 Pleasant Valley at No. 1 Colfax
No. 11 Sierra Pacific at No. 2 Argonaut
Division V
West Valley 54, Portola 47
University Prep 53, Calaveras 48
Monte Vista Christian 47, Gridley 39
Branson 60, Hughson 43
Saturday semifinals, 6 p.m.
No. 4 University Prep at No. 1 West Valley
No. 3 Monte Vista Christian at No. 2 Branson
Division VI
Laytonville 58, Fall River 56
Calistoga 47, Valley Christian 46
Forest Lake Christian 57, Credo 38
Redding Christian 54, Tomales 39
Saturday semifinals, 6 p.m.
No. 5 Calistoga at No. 1 Laytonville
No. 3 Forest Lake Christian at No. 2 Redding Christian
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 6:38 AM with the headline "Memorial High girls basketball tastes a touch of glory again."