Image From WHS Girls Basketball Instagram (@whsgirlsbb)
Washington basketball player Jordyn Yamaguchi recently reached the 1000 point milestone at Washington High School, playing for all four years of her high school career. Her team, which is currently 9-3 in the league and ranked 189 in California, congratulated Yamaguchi on this milestone.
In a 46-22 win against the Kennedy Titans, Yamaguchi reached this extraordinary milestone. Playing basketball ever since Kindergarten, she has played in AAU leagues such as Asian Ball, an all Asian League. Being a captain, Yamaguchi feels the responsibility to lead the team. The team feels and looks closer than it has in a long time. “It motivates them just to show them that when me and Mikaela are gone they will have the opportunity to also score and play how they want to play,” she says.
Yamaguchi feels confident about the team she has this year, and she wishes to make one final push into the NCS. “I think so far this is our best season, at least for the four years that I’ve been here,” she says. “We have a winning record right now, and we have new coaches this year so it’s a good opportunity, but our team’s also closer than we’ve ever been before and we’re all friends so it’s been a really good year.” Even if things do fall short, Yamaguchi wishes to continue her basketball career into college. With a recent offer to attend UC Santa Cruz, Yamaguchi will decide on her future by the end of the season.
When asked about the pressures of being a captain, Yamaguchi explained that being a leader means you have a big influence on the rest of the team, knowing that if your morale is down the whole team’s morale goes down with it. “I think the hardest part is just being able to perform well and not get down on myself when I have a bad game because it just reflects onto the whole team,” she says. Having a big role, she pushes herself for the better of the team.
Yamaguchi’s teammate Mikaela Dumagan also recently hit the 1000 points mark. Like Yamaguchi, Dumagan played all 4 years on varsity at WHS. Knowing that this is their last season, both of them want to try and lead their team to a winning record and a high seed going into NCS.
Makoa has lived in Fremont for all his life. He is going into his second year of journalism and will be the section editor for sports and health articles. He is also the video editor for the Hatchet’s online publications. Currently Makoa is on the varsity football team, and will be participating in basketball during the winter. He also likes to listen to music and edit pictures/videos for his youtube/instagram. He plans to attend Juco and then transfer to UH Manoa or San Jose State.