The more things change, the more they stay the same at Cajon High School, especially for the girls’ varsity basketball team, which has always had a good core group, but every year head coach Mark Lehman adds a few new faces to the mix. Even though the makeup of the team may change from year to year, the end result is always the same. During the summer league season it looks like it’s going to be more of the same. A few new faces and a lot more wins and tournament championships.

During the regular basketball season Cajon had another banner year, going undefeated in league play, winning their eighth consecutive San Andreas League championship and advancing all the way to the CIF semi-finals before surprisingly being eliminated by Long Beach Poly. This summer Cajon is already on pace for another outstanding summer session, picking up where they left off just before the July 4th celebration.

Cajon recently participated in the annual Cal State Inland Empire Girls Basketball Tournament held at Cal State, San Bernardino, and in its young four years of existence Cajon can boast of as many championships. This time Cajon dominated the field by averaging 65.5 points a game, while holding their opponents to a mere 30 points a game. One reason the high point total is that Lehman added something more effective to an already championship caliber team. Nevertheless, Lehman made the high scoring offensive more lethal.

During their run to the tournament championship in the Cal State Inland Empire Tournament, Cajon had to face a number of quality teams. In the first round, Cajon beat Redlands East Valley High School 71-29; in the second round they beat Riverside Martin Luther King High 62-35. In the semi-finals they beat Yucaipa High 71-33, and in the championship game they beat Centennial High 58-32 to win their fourth consecutive Cal State Inland Empire tournament championship.

Later this month Cajon will compete in San Diego in the largest girls’ basketball tournament in the nation, scheduled for July 15-18. Last year Cajon was eliminated in the semi-finals; the year before that they lost in the championship game. With a new high-powered offense in place, Lehman is hoping his team will go all the way this year.

This year Cajon is loaded with seniors, seven in all, which helps to bring much needed experience to a team that will face a lot of major competitions during the summer session, pre-season and even more so during the post-season. However, based upon what he has seen so far, Lehman feels confident his girls will contend for another CIF (SS) title again this year, and maybe even contend for the state championship again as well.

“The summer session often times is a good indication of how the regular season can go. If players stay healthy and stay focused, this team has a great chance to compete for a CIF title. I think they have what it takes to win State, but we have to stay healthy, stay focused and work extremely hard,” said Lehman.

Lehman knows what it takes to win a CIF (SS) title; he has been there before. Two years, along with nationally ranked players like Lyshia Clarendon and Darshae Burnside, Cajon won the girls’ CIF (SS) championship. They were heavily favored to win the state title, but lost in the semi-finals to a team they had beaten twice already. Although this team lacks the star power of his team of two years ago, he feels confident that this team has what it takes to go a little further.

“We don’t have a player on this team that will be a standout Division I player, but we have a couple girls who could be nice role players at the Division I level. This team has players that can be very effective on the Division II level or better if they continue to work hard and improve,” said Lehman.

Two years ago Lehman had two nationally ranked players in Clarendon and Burnside. After winning a number of post-season accolades and CIF honors Clarendon went on to start at the University of California. Burnside was on track to attend and be a major of the program at the University of Arkansas, but was sidetracked. Burnside is scheduled to resume her academic and athletic career at San Bernardino Valley College in the fall.

A number of girls who were underclassmen and role players alongside Clarendon and Burnside are now team leaders in their senior year, so they know what it’s like to play in the big games in front of big crowds. According to Lehman, this group has a better concept and plays much better team basketball.

“This group is very talented and we have a deep bench. We have enough fire power to have a senior and a junior team, where we can sub five for five, still run an up-tempo offense and not really sacrifice talent. Because we don’t have a standout go-to scorer our players really have to rely on one another and really play team basketball,” said Lehman.

Apparently the concept has been working as well as the new offense that Lehman added. The offensive scheme that allows Cajon to score so many points is similar to that of the up-tempo offense ran by the men at Loyola Marymount University. That offense is an up-tempo run and gun style that allows teams to force a fast break even after a made basket. It is also similar to what Alvin Gentry runs with the Phoenix Suns where you get off a shot in 12 seconds or less, never allowing a chance to get set.

Lehman feels confident that this squad will do very well in the post-season because of how well they understand and run the offense. He also sees how a number of teams will have trouble adjusting to the new offense, especially since his team is so deep this year.

During their most recent outing, Cajon’s seniors stepped up to help lead the team to their fourth consecutive Cal State Inland Empire title. Senior Kori Walker led the team in assists, and as always proved to be a defensive asset; senior Rashida Simpson played great defense inside; senior Alexa Saturday led the team in scoring, averaging 11 points a game, and junior center Jazzmeen Williams led the team in rebounds.

With an offense that is able to score points in bunches, Cajon is going to try very hard to deal with opponents, but will be very exciting to watch for the fans.