After suffering a one-point loss in the Northern Section Division IV championship last year, the Willows varsity girls basketball team has returned to the court this season on a mission to get back to the title game, having lost just three times in 21 outings while outscoring their opponents 1,182 to 830.
Without question the Honkers are serving notice that they are the team to beat in Division IV and made that abundantly clear last week as they torched their Sacramento Valley League and NSCIF division rivals Pierce and Live Oak in two games by scores of 73-52 and 66-29 respectively.
Leading the way for Willows is senior Meghan Weinrich, one of the section’s most dominant players and its second all-time leading scorer, who is currently averaging 27.5 points per game, but exceeded that number in her last two starts pouring in 35 points against Pierce and 29 in the win over Live Oak.
Yet the Honkers also have a solid supporting cast, which includes fellow seniors Tayler Berens, Hanna Pariso and Kendyl Garcia along with junior Brieze Martins and freshman Aislin Johnson, who all unselfishly work hard to create scoring opportunities, rebound and play tough defensively.
In the game at home against Pierce, Berens drained some big shots from the outside and finished with 13 points, while Johnson, a freshman came off the bench to add 14 points in what Willows coach Carol Martin said was her best performance of the season to this point.
Willows also got a good effort from Parisio, who despite being saddled three early fouls contributed eight points and eight rebounds.
Helping the Honkers’ cause in the paint was Martins who collected eight boards and Garcia who snagged six.
On the road in Live Oak in addition to Weinrich, Parisio chipped in with 11 points and Berens dropped in 10.
Riding an 11 game win streak, the Honkers (19-3, 3-0) were in Colusa on Jan. 28 and have a rematch with Pierce in Arbuckle on Jan. 30.