Caliche girls basketball bows out in regionals
When David Huss reclaimed his position as the head coach of Caliche girls basketball before the 2020-21 season, he hoped to restore the glory days of the program, which dated back to the last time he donned a whistle around his neck within the walls of the school.
Three years into his second tenure, he’s already making waves.
Last week, the Buffaloes earned the No. 23 seed to the Class 2A state tournament, and wound up traveling to Dayspring Christian Academy for their regional. That set them up for a date with No. 10 Simla, who subsequently sent them packing with a 70-39 victory to end their season then and there.
During the final season without Huss, even that feat would have been unbelievable. During 2019-20, Caliche won just two games while losing 18. In his first year back, the Buffaloes suffered a similar 2-12 record, but he was just beginning to lay the bricks of the foundation.
In 2021-22, the team improved to 6-14, then steadily built up its win total. This season, they finished with a 1011 record, and Huss even surpassed his 300th career victory at Caliche on Jan. 22 with a 4838 win over Otis.
During Huss’ first tenure, which ran from 2000-2015, he accumulated a 278-131 record with eight trips to the state tournament.
This season, the Buffaloes relied primarily on his daughter, senior Karsyn Huss, and junior Ava Hernandez to get the job done on offense. While Karsyn led the team in nearly every category — 13.2 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, 3.7 assists per game and 2.8 steals per game — Hernandez proved that she’ll be the one to carry the torch after Karsyn graduates.
Hernandez supplemented the score sheet with 10.4 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game, three assists per game and 1.9 steals per game. No matter how this season ended, with a snub in the first round of regionals, one thing is certain.
The rise isn’t over for this program.