EL CAJON — A challenging schedule is a trademark of a Karen Caires-led squad. As is hard-nosed defense.
Both of those trademarks will be shining through for the 2022-23 Grossmont College Women's Basketball team.
PLAYERS
Sophomores Jaleah Raymond and Paula Magtoto will lead the Griffins against a schedule that features 23 games against teams from six different conferences.
Magtoto has been working out like crazy this off-season improving every aspect of her game. From shooting to defense.
Raymond will be running the point, but can also work as the shooting guard. She has been putting in hours upon hours working out during the off-season to improve for this season. Last year, she put 7.3 points per game along with her team-leading 2.3 steals on the stat sheet in 16 games (14 of which were starts). The coaching staff look for her to be a threat regardless of where on the floor she is, whether that is down on the post, in the mid-range or even beyond the arc (where she was only 20-percent last season). "She could be one of our most durable players," Head Coach Karen Caires said during pre-season media availability.
COVID-Freshman Caitlyn Stayner and Paige Evans from West Hills High in nearby Santee. Both guards were recruited prior to the Pandemic and then took a year off prior to enrolling at Grossmont.
Stayner comes into the program with speed and can handle the ball with the best of them. The coaching staff is looking for her to be a facilitator on offense and present the opposition with pressure defense.
Evans will be one of the deep threats for the Griffins. She has a long lanky body that will give teams some matchup issues on the defensive end.
Lexi Scott will be joining the Griffin family from the Great State of Arizona. Scott, who is in her second home as she has family in the Greater San Diego area, will provide size in the post. She is looking to get stronger in every practice and has adopted the mantra, one percent better every day.
Chiara Nava will come up the Hill and join Grossmont from "The Valley" El Centro. Nava will more than likely end up being the heart and soul of the squad. She is a hard-working player that loves the game and has the heart of a champion. The defense, that Nava brings to the court, is the kind of defense that Coach Caires loves, aggressive and tenacious, a hallmark of any Caires led program.
Hailey Alexander is a walk-on and comes to the team via one of the Grossmont basketball classes. She will be helping the team in several areas, not the least of which is depth.
SCHEDULE
The 2022-23 schedule sees the Griffins open the season with the PCAC/OEC challenge. Grossmont will face the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) runner-up from a year ago, Orange Coast College. OCC is one of six teams that made the playoffs last year that the Griffins will face. The next day, the Hornets of Fullerton will be waiting.
In week two of the season, the Green and Gold will head to Riverside to play in the "Earn Our Stripes" tournament hosted by the Riverside Tigers. This tournament has a reputation of having some of the best teams in the Southern California Region participating year in and year out.
To wrap up November, Grossmont will travel to Cerritos for a single game. The Falcons finished runner-up in the South Coast Conference (SCC), Southern Division. They will be the second of five teams that won 20 games or more a year ago.
December opens with the Cypress tournament. While the game matchups have not been released yet, this could be the toughest tournament of the year. Cypress finished third in the OEC and was in the SoCal Elite Eight.
After the Cypress tournament, Inland Empire Athletic Conference (IEAC) powerhouse Mt. San Jacinto will come to El Cajon for a single game on "The day that will live in infamy." MSJC put 80+ points in a game nine times (season high of 106 against Barstow). Two days later, the IEAC portion of the schedule continues against College of the Desert. COD sat out last year as was an option in the CCCAA. The Roadrunners, recently named former LA Southwest head coach Courtney Booker to head the 'Runners.
After two games against IEAC competition, the Griffins will host the 34th Annual Grossmont Holiday Classic. The three-day tournament will have three games a day and will wrap up the 2022 portion of the schedule.
When the New Year opens, the Griffins will jump right into Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) play. The PCAC schedule will start with MiraCosta who finished in fifth place a year ago. Palomar will be the final opponent of the opening week of conference play. Palomar won the PCAC last season with a perfect 14-0 record on their way to a Final Four appearance.
Week two of conference play will see the Griffins at home against Imperial Valley and Southwestern. Southwestern claimed the runner-up spot in the PCAC a season ago. The game against IVC will be the Griffins High School and Alumni night as they will welcome the greats of years past back to the Griffin Arena.
The middle of January will see Grossmont travel to Kearny Mesa to take on the Olympians who finished in third place last season. Upon returning from Mesa, San Diego City will come to Fletcher Hills.
GC will wrap up the first round of conference with a road trip to Rancho San Diego to take on the Coyotes of Cuyamaca as they return to action. The second round of PCAC action will mirror the first with sites being reversed.
COACHES
This season the Griffins welcome in new assistant coaches James Stewart and Kyle Ruiz.
Ruiz joins the Griffins, well actually returns, after completing his education at nearby San Diego Christian College. He attended and played for Coach Weber on the men's side from 2016-18. This will be his first year coaching, and will be helping out both programs.
RECAP
The Griffins will be challenged early in the schedule with their young squad. Science shows us that when you put carbon atoms through high temperatures and high pressure you get diamonds. So the young Griffins will be battled tested prior to PCAC play, where they could get hot and surprise a few folks.