Spring Valley seniors salvage lost basketball season with signings
After reaching the girls state basketball semifinals in 2020, Spring Valley had visions of perhaps ending Centennial’s six-year reign this season.
Alas, the winter sports season was canceled, meaning the Grizzlies never got that chance. While it was a disappointing end to the seniors’ high school career, they were able to celebrate what could be in the future by signing to play in college.
“Going to the next level has always been a dream, and it’s shifted to a reality now,” said Spring Valley forward Garrisen Freeman, who signed with Cal State Bakersfield. “I’m glad I’ve been given the opportunity to go play at the next level because it shows all the hard work I did in high school and middle school paid off.”
The Spring Valley quartet will be joined by other elite players from around the valley who will sign their national letter of intent Wednesday, the first day of the regular signing period for basketball.
Guards Riahana Davis and Kiana Turene, and post player Kenna Scott have also made their college choices known. Davis signed with Adams State, Turene is headed to Park University and Scott will play for Webber International in Florida.
During a normal year, the Grizzlies would have had a big celebration at school in front of family, friends and teachers who helped get them to this point. But while the ceremonies to honor them were smaller this year, the excitement was not.
“Garrisen signed first, and she had something at her house, and it was small,” Spring Valley coach Billy Hemberger said. “Then when Kiana, Kenna and (Riahana) were able to sign, we were working out at the Las Vegas Basketball Center, so we invited parents and at the end of practice had all our players in the program come over and they got to sign in front of everybody.”
Spring Valley’s seniors did get some closure to their high school career, playing as a club team and winning the League of Legends. The coaches and parents also put together a senior night.
“It felt like a season because that’s all we had,” Turene said. “It felt like we were a real team. We played hard every single game and didn’t give up. It was sad, though, because the last game was my last one ever in high school.”
All four of Spring Valley’s signees said they were looking for a place that felt like home, somewhere they could have a sisterly bond like they did in high school. And they said one thing that sold them was when their new coaches sounded similar to “Coach H.”
“We don’t praise him enough. He has done so much. He sat down with me and Kiana for at least an hour and a half after school,” Scott said. “We searched colleges, looked up their head coach’s email and phone number, and that was all after his office hours. He didn’t have to do that. Over the course of the four years, he’s been everything. If we had different coaches, I’m not sure we would have had the same outcome.”
Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.
