Girls’ Basketball

Last year’s girls’ varsity basketball team was as good as it gets. Although Burlingame narrowly fell in overtime to Aragon in the Central Coast Section semi-finals, they achieved great success, boasting an impressive (19-8, 9-3 Peninsula Athletic League South Division) record. 

This year’s roster will certainly not look the same. The departure of last year’s seniors is a loss of valuable veteran experience, but three transfers to elite private school teams will leave the most prominent voids. The absence of reliable point guard Sachi Urushima, leading scorer Elana Weisman and leading rebounder Ava Uhrich will be felt throughout the roster. Weisman and Uhrich were both dominant forces in the paint and earned first-team all-league honors.

Just three players — seniors Joy Yeo, Vanessa Li, and Nora Leslie — return from last year’s team. To get the team ready for the upcoming season, head coach Joe Dito must juggle nine new varsity players. 

Most of those new faces are underclassmen with a unique opportunity to impress the coaches and earn more playing time early in the season. Sophomores Jillian Kiniris, Sienna La Mark, Miranda Sibley and Hailey Miller have made positive impressions, according to Dito. And senior Malia Schmidt, who played soccer last year, has stood out in preseason play.

The team has spent more time practicing than in past years in an effort to figure out team dynamics and rotations before league games begin. 

Despite their youth and inexperience, the team is still committed to maintaining its competitive edge. The drastically different roster isn’t limiting the ambitious expectations about how far the team can go.