Spartans’ Soto State D5 Player of the Year
Soto selected State DV Player of the Year
Despite the Strathmore High girls basketball team not going far in the CIF Socal D5 bracket, Jazmine Soto’s individual accomplishments proved to be too overwhelming compared to others checked out for this honor, including those from CIF state finalists East Bakersfield and Branson of Ross.
So Soto has been named as the Cal-hi Sports D5 Girls Basketball State Player of the Year.
East Bakersfield also was the team Strathmore played in the CIF Central Section D5 final in which Soto pumped in 29 points in a competitive loss. She then had 27 in a regional playoff loss to Marshall of Pasadena.
For the season, Soto ranked among the best in the nation and was second in the state with 29.1 ppg. She should easily surpass 3,000 career points next year and already is the all-time leader for Tulare County, according to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett, with 2,498 points. Barnett also has reported Soto set a section record this season with 989 points. She had a season high of 43 points against Lindsay with additional season bests of 13 rebounds and 10 steals (twice). Another outing that stood out was collecting 34 points in a loss to D4 Norcal champion Sierra Pacific and eventual D4 state player of the year Celeste Lewis.
Soto, who was recently named Orange Belt Player of the Year by the Porterville Recorder, shot 49 percent from the field and also had averages of 5.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals per game. She’s the second straight D5 State Player of the Year from the CIF Central Section following Serena Ybarra of Coalinga for 2019.