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Hart
by Signal
HART BOYS
The Coach
Hart Head Coach Tom Kelly. PHOTOS BY DAN WATSON / THE SIGNAL
2022 Roster
# Name Year Position
0 Joseph Montes 11 G 1 jason Fawzi 11 G/F 2 Devon Strong 11 G 4 Elias Bookhart 12 G/F 5 Tim Larkins 11 F 10 Gabriel Stokes 12 F 11 Andrew Stoker 11 G/F 13 JD Lontok 12 G 32 Brett Hourigan 11 F 33 Zach Judd 11 F 41 Jack Oldhafer 11 F 44 Jacob Okonowski 12 G/F
D 2022 Schedule
Nov. 14-29 Cantwell Tournament TBA Nov. 22 La Salle 7 p.m. Dec. 2 at Golden Valley* 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6 Saugus* 6:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at Castaic* 6:30 p.m. Dec. 19-22 Faith Baptist Tournament TBA Dec. 27-30 Hart Tournament TBA
Jan. 3 at West Ranch* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 6 Canyon* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 10 at Valencia* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at Westchester TBA
Jan. 17 Golden Valley* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at Saugus* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 24 Castaic* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27 West Ranch* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at Canyon* 6:30 p.m.
* Foothill League games
GIRLS BASKETBALL
2022 Schedule
Nov. 14
Knight 6 p.m. Nov. 19 Highland 1:30 p.m. Nov. 29 Ventura at Viewpoint 7 p.m. Nov. 30 at Moorpark 5:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at Crescenta Valley 4 p.m. Dec. 2 at Golden Valley* 5 p.m. Dec. 3 at Viewpoint 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 6
Saugus* 5 p.m. Dec. 9 Castaic* 5 p.m. Dec. 16 La Cañada 4:30 p.m.
Dec. 20-22
Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions TBA
Dec. 26-30 John Burroughs Tournament TBA Jan. 3 at West Ranch* 5 p.m. Jan. 6 Canyon* 5 p.m. Jan. 10 at Valencia* 5 p.m. Jan. 12 Rolling Hills Prep 6 p.m. Jan. 17 Golden Valley* 5 p.m. Jan. 20 Saugus* 5 p.m. Jan. 21 Quartz Hill 1:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at Canyon* 5 p.m. Jan. 31 at Canyon* 5 p.m.
Feb. 3
Valencia* 5 p.m.
The Coach
Hart Girls Head Coach Jerry Mike.
2022 Roster
# Name Year Position
40 Andrea Aina 10 F 10 Janelle Boozer 10 F 21 Lily Cornejo 11 G 2 Arleigh Eav 11 G 15 Emery Eav 10 G 4 Laney Grider 12 G 41 Chloe Judd 9 F 24 Taylor Koebel 9 F 13 Morgan Mack 10 G 3 Elyse Mitchell 12 G/F 14 Jaelynn Taylor 12 F 33 Vanessa Zavala 12 F
Hart Girls Are Ready to Retake the Crown
By Tyler Wainfeld
Signal Sports Writer
Hart girls’ basketball is coming off a pivotal season for the program. Hart (21-8) had a long season that ended all the way in the state tournament.
The Indians will be a different team this season as every other one is, but only Hart will be tasked with filling the shoes of a Foothill League Player of the Year. Kayla Hourigan led the team in scoring and boards last year but head coach Jerry Mike knows all about putting together a winning team.
“We’re a little different style,” said Mike. “We’re more up-tempo and we want to use our speed, we’re pretty fast. I think this’ll be one of the faster teams I’ve had. Overall, we had a good summer and we’re doing some new things on offense. It’s been fun.”
Hart will return All-CIF and The Master’s University commit, guard Laney Grider. Grider is coming off a near 12-point, 5-rebound and 4-assist average last season and was key for the Indians’ success. She also led the team in steals.
Grider posted big numbers but with her team’s ball movement, she wouldn’t be surprised if the stats are a lot more even throughout the Hart box scores.
“It feels like stats are also going to be spread out a lot more throughout the team, which is great,” said Grider. “It’s amazing and I think that most of our offense will come from our defense, which is also a great thing for our team.”
Alongside Griner will be sophomore guard Morgan Mack. Mack made an immediate impact on the team as a freshman and will look to post an even stronger sophomore season.
“Morgan is a complete player,” said Mike. “She’s getting better all the time, has a really high IQ, for a 10th grader especially, and she’s strong.”
Junior Arleigh Eav will command the point guard spot. Eav has impressed her head coach so far with improvements on defense and in her leadership.
Senior Vanessa Zavala will start at the five spot for Hart. Zavala is a 6-foot, 1-inch big who can shoot from outside. Zavala will demand attention wherever she may be on the court, which should free up space for the Hart sharpshooters.
Zavala believes the Indians’ chemistry is strong on and off the court. The team is always hanging out together outside of practice but several even play together in their offseason.
“It’s amazing,” said Zavala. “We get along on the court but off the court, we hang out a lot. Not only do we play high school ball together, but also the majority of us play on the same travel team. So that’s like an advantage for us because we have more time to bond and learn each other’s skills.”
The players have a great rapport with one another and have a great environment wherever they go.
“Oh my God, they’re so much fun,” said Mack. “They’re my besties at school. We care about each other so much. Off court, on the court, weight room, practice, it’s just a great environment but then we know how to be competitive at the same time.”
Sophomore Janelle Boozer missed all of last season with an ACL injury but is looking like a big piece for the Indians. Senior Elyse Mitchell will also be a key returner to the team as she has made strides in her rebounding and her confidence.
Andrea Aina, Lily Cornejo, Chloe Judd and Emery Eav could also play key roles for Hart as the four will likely come off the bench.
Aina was one player Grider noted has impressed her this summer. The sophomore’s progression will likely catch other teams’ attention eventually as well.
“She is a hustler,” said Grider. “She can rebound. She’s gotten so much better at shooting this year and she’s attacking the rim with a lot more confidence. As a freshman, it’s hard. So I think she’s going to come out of the gate and put up a lot of points for us.”
The Indians have a deep team with a lot of talent but that means nothing without a strong defense.
“We have an amazing defense,” said Zavala. “We have a few players like Arleigh Eav, who gets in a lot of people’s faces and takes the ball right out of their hands, making other teams mad. She’s probably one of my favorite players to watch on the team.”
Hart will have plenty of strong defenders alongside their point guard. Opposing teams can expect
See HART GIRLS, page 43
Hart Aiming to Jump Back into Playoffs
By Justin Vigil-Zuniga
Signal Sports Writer
Hart boys’ basketball is coming off a difficult year plagued by injuries and players who missed time.
The team is already not catching any breaks with the huge loss of their top player, Jacob Okonowski.
Okonowski, a senior, likely tore his ACL recently and will miss his final year on the court for Hart. The team won’t make any excuses and is preparing to battle with their guy on the sidelines.
Head coach Tom Kelly will enter his 23rd season as the Indians’ head coach with some promising talent on the roster. Senior Elias Bookhart will be one of Hart’s key players, bringing inside and outside scoring while playing hard defense against any sized opponent.
Bookhart is excited for the year and sees tons of improvements from last year’s team.
“Talking and communication is going to be a big improvement from last year,” said Bookhart. “Our chemistry is way stronger than last year’s chemistry. We’re able to trust each other on and off the court.”
One player who missed the bulk of last year is Gabriel Stokes. The 6-foot, 6-inch senior forward has made some great strides since last year and will be a key factor for Hart.
“We’re feeling good. We’re getting really good team chemistry,” said Stokes. “We’ve been on a run but we’ve had our ups and downs with people out, injured or sick but we’ve been on a good run.”
Indians’ quarterback Tim Larkins will return to the team when football officially concludes. Larkins was a starting forward last season and should again have a big impact on the floor.
Devon Strong and Joseph Montes were two standouts on JV last season and will likely play important roles on varsity. Bookhart and Stokes have liked how quickly the two have mixed into varsity and thinks they’re due for big seasons.
“Devin’s on the smaller side but he comes in and he’s real shifty,” said Stokes. “He’s going to hit shots on people and they’re going to be really upset.”
JD Lontok will be one of the team’s best on-ball defenders so we may see the senior locking up opposing team’s top players.
“We lost Jacob so we don’t really have a guy,” said Kelly. “We have a bunch of guys. So, we don’t have an alpha right now but we just got a bunch of guys who compete every day, get out for it, so lineups could change.”
Some of the players felt last year’s team was a tad one-dimensional on offense. The team enters the 2022-23 season with depth and more scoring options, which will free up more shots all around the court.
“We’ve got a lot of shooting,” said Stokes. “We have more inside scoring than last year. Last year we were more of an outside scoring team but this year we can do it in and out.”
No matter the roster or the scoring options, the goals never change.
“Our goals never really change,” said Kelly. “This is my 23rd year and our goals have always been: win 20 games, win league and try and make a run in the playoffs. We’re not going to change our goals. We’re going to get out and compete.”
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