State’s Finest: Cajon guard and 2009 Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year Layshia Clarendon
co-headlines a star-studded Southern Section girls roster (12 Division 1 prospects)
that will face the City Section girls at the 11th Collision all-Star game on April 25.
The Southern Section girls roster for the Collision All-Star Game has always been loaded but in its 11th edition, that may be an understatement.
It’s not just that the team has 12 Division I players but they also have the state’s Ms. Basketball in Layshia Clarendon (Cajon) as well as a McDonald’s All-American in Eliza Pierre (Pasadena Muir).
They aren’t just loaded. On Saturday, April 25, at El Camino College, fans will see arguably the most star-studded girls roster in Collision history.
It starts at the top with Clarendon, a player many thought should have been at McDonalds with Pierre and three other Californians. Her senior year was dominated by big wins and even bigger performances.
Against Long Beach Poly in the Southern Section Division I title game, the 5-9 Cal-bound guard had 28 points and eight rebounds as she and teammate Darshae Burnside led the Cowboys to their second Southern Section title.
She scored 53 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in two games against Division II state champion Brea Olinda, splitting the series. In her final game against Ontario Colony in the Division I state regional semifinals, she had 29 points and 10 rebounds.
On the year, she averaged 20.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 3.2 steals. According to the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book, she’s third all-time in career assists (944) and will rank in the Top 15 all-time in scoring (2,875).
And as an added bonus, she’s also an outstanding student with a 3.6 grade point average
It’s fitting that she will end her decorated career at Collision alongside her teammate Burnside, who averaged 17.2 points and 16.2 rebounds while becoming the Southern Section’s all-time rebounding leader (2,248 – also good for third on the all-time list).
While the Cajon duo makes this a formidable roster, it’s also Pierre’s selection that makes this roster a historical one.
In past years, McDonald’s All-Americans have found their way to the game but had to watch from the sidelines. The last two years, James Harden (Artesia) and Jasmine Dixon (Long Beach Poly) have attended the game and got as much attention as their peers on the court.
This will be the first time that an All-American has played in the game and Pierre, a 5-8 guard brings some incredible talent to the table
She nearly averaged a triple-double for the Mustangs (10.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists). In the McDonald’s game, she had game highs of five assists and four steals to go along with three points and three rebounds.
An All-CIF Division IIIA first team selection, she’ll join Clarendon at Cal as part of one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. Her Muir teammate, Brittany Henderson, will also be at Collision after committing to Kentucky.
With that much star power at the top, you’d almost forget the rest of the roster is filled with talented players that gives head coach Mel Sims plenty to work with.
Ontario Colony duo Camille Buckley (22.0 ppg, 12.8 rpg.) and Jazmyne White (12.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg) led their team to their second consecutive Southern Section title and the state regional final. White is headed to UC Irvine and Buckley, the Division IA Player of the Year, is bound for Loyola Marymount.                                                                                           Â
Inglewood had a phenomenal season that was capped by reaching their first ever state final and co-captain Tayler Champion (13.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg) will represent the Sentinels in Collision.
Joanna Matthews (Rancho Cucamonga) and Meghin Williams (Summit) capped their careers by being named to the All-CIF second team in their respective divisions. Williams is headed to Nebraska next fall.
It’s a roster that would make any opposing team shudder, except a City Section team led by the confident Victoria Sanders of Narbonne.
Whether or not the Southern Section dominate the game will be determined on the court, but this squad will already be noted in Collision history for the two players who could easily headline a game by themselves.
Layshia Clarendon and Eliza Pierre will give fans a taste of what Cal will see for the next four years and have added extra luster to what should be an exciting day of basketball on April 25.
