Watkins is a cut above the rest
CHATSWORTH >> Sierra Canyon's Juju Watkins is inarguably the best high school girls basketball player in the country. It's why she is the No. 1-rated prospect on every recruiting website. It's why she's garnered offers from college basketball's best programs. It's why she's already signed name, image and likeness (NIL) deals with Nike, which has featured her in commercials with LeBron James.
It's why she's a McDonald's All-American, headed to USC, has the Trailblazers at 29-0 and the No. 1 team in the country heading into the CIF Southern Section Open Division title game for the second straight season.
Sierra Canyon, the defending CIF State Open Division champion, will face Etiwanda in a rematch of last year's title game at the Honda Center Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Eagles are the last team to beat Sierra Canyon, surprising the Trailblazers in last year's final, 69-57, on Feb. 26.
To take Watkins' greatness and dominance a step further, it's worth looking at her box scores from the 24 games she's played in this season. She is averaging 28 points, 14 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game. She's shooting 49.9% from the field, 37.1% from the 3-point line and 84.3% from the free throw line.
She scored a career-high 60 points Jan. 31 against Notre Dame on the school's Senior Night.
Harvard-Westlake girls basketball coach Melissa Hearlihy has been coaching in Southern California since 1985, starting at Alemany High. The legendary coach, who has accumulated more than 800 career wins, knows a thing or two about great players.
Juju Watkins is at the top of Hearlihy's list.
“It's hard to think of anyone that's as dominant as she is,” Hearlihy said. “She's a 6-foot guard. Twenty years ago, a girl that size was playing with their back to the basket. The only name I can compare her to would be Cheryl Miller, because of the combination of size, skill, athleticism and power.”
The San Fernando Valley and surrounding area has seen its fair share of top-level players. Most recently, Harvard-Westlake's Kiki Iriafen and Camarillo's Gabriela Jaquez were named to the McDonald's All-American Game. But they weren't putting up the numbers like Watkins has, and they weren't doing it against the state's best competition.
“That's what sets her apart,” Hearlihy said. “The level at which she's doing it and the teams she's doing it against.”
One performance in particular that lends to Hearlihy's point is when Sierra Canyon went head-to-head against Sidwell Friends of D.C. in the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. Watkins battled through a bad ankle and willed her team to a 67-55 victory over the topranked opponent with 29 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals.
The numbers are great. They're gaudy, actually. But Sierra Canyon coach Alicia Komaki has another layer of greatness to add: Watkins' defense.
“The scoring, the rebounds, all the stats are something I've become numb to as a coach,” Komaki said. “It's her standard, which is kind of scary. But when she's playing defense, she can showcase her athleticism.”
One example came recently against Ontario Christian's Chloe Briggs, a Washington-bound senior who has tallied more than 3,600 career points. Briggs has scored 40 or more points 13 times this season, including a 50-point game. When Sierra Canyon faced Ontario Christian in the Open Division playoffs on Feb. 15, Briggs was held to 15 points — scoreless in the second quarter — in the Trailblazers' 80-18 win. Watkins didn't play the fourth quarter.
Watkins checks all the boxes. She can score, pass, handle the ball, rebound, play defense and lead. The future Trojan is very competitive, which means she's got revenge on her mind when the Trailblazers face Etiwanda on Saturday. The Open Division Southern Section title is the only piece of hardware Watkins doesn't have.
“We want everything this year,” Watkins said at the beginning of the season on media day. “Especially that Open Division championship.”
Game-by-game breakdown
11 / 18 >> Sierra Canyon 79, Duncanville (Texas) 62: 18 pts, 14 rebs, 6 asts
11 / 19 >> Sierra Canyon 57, South Grand Prairie (Texas) 45: 30 pts, 13 rebs, 7 asts, 5 stls
11 / 25 >> Sierra Canyon 61, Parkway 49: 24 pts, 11 rebs
12 / 9 SIERRA CANYON 68, FREMONT 36: 19PTS, 12REBS, 7ASTS 12 / 10 >> Sierra Canyon 64, Lone Peak 56: 29 pts, 13 rebs
12 / 19 >> Sierra Canyon 76, Bishop Gorman 29: 21 pts, 11 rebs, 3 blks
12 / 20 >> Sierra Canyon 74, George Washington (Colorado) 37: 23 pts, 12 rebs, 4 asts, 4 stls, 5blks
12 / 21 >> Sierra Canyon 73, Coure d'Alene (Idaho) 47: 30 pts, 12 rebs, 5 asts, 4 stls
12 / 22 >> Sierra Canyon 73, Putnam City (Oklahoma) 33 [Taraknian Classic final]: 30 pts, 18 rebs, 5 stls, 3 asts, 2 blks
12 / 28 >> Sierra Canyon 89, Jefferson (Oregon) 46: 31 pts, 25 rebs, 5 asts, 3 blks
12 / 29 >> Sierra Canyon 64, Jesuit (Oregon) 53: 23 pts, 13 rebs, 3 stls
12 / 30 >> Sierra Canyon 58, Camas (Washington) 53: 20 pts, 13 rebs
1 / 05 >> Sierra Canyon 79, Chaminade 40: 31 pts, 12 rebs, 4 asts, 5 stls
1 / 07 >> Sierra Canyon 64, La Jolla Country Day 55: 30 pts, 19 rebs
1 / 10 >> Sierra Canyon 71, Alemany 32: 30 pts, 14 rebs
1 / 12 >> Sierra Canyon 80, Notre Dame 29: 16 pts, 10 rebs, 3 asts
1 / 14 >> Sierra Canyon 67, Sidwell Friends (D.C.) 55 [Springfield Hoophall Classic]: 29 pts, 14 rebs, 5 asts, 4 blks, 3 stls
1 / 24 >> Sierra Canyon 81, Chaminade 41: 21 pts, 7 rebs, 3 asts, 3 stls, 2 blks
1 / 26 >> Sierra Canyon 93, Alemany 49: 45 pts, 16 rebs, 8 asts, 4 blks, 2 stls
1 / 28 >> Sierra Canyon 98, St. Paul 55: 24 pts, 16 rebs, 6 asts, 4 blks
1 / 31 >> Sierra Canyon 88, Notre Dame 39: 60 pts (career high), 21 rebs, 5 stls
OPEN DIVISION PLAYOFFS
2 / 11 >> Sierra Canyon 74, Bishop Montgomery 35: 18 pts, 8 rebs, 3 asts
2 / 15 >> Sierra Canyon 80, Ontario Christian 18: 32 pts, 17 rebs, 4 asts, 4 stls, 5 blks
2 / 18 >> Sierra Canyon 89, Sage Hill 45: 29 pts, 14 rebs, 6 asts, 5 blks, 4 stls