Bee's Best: 2024-25 girls basketball All-Stars and Players of the Year
Alexis Swillis was a big target for the Clovis West girls basketball team this season.
Standing at 6-foot-3, she was an imposing figure and a force.
She was continually relied on when the Golden Eagles needed short buckets.
Swillis finished her career with 1,266 points, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
Swillis averaged 15.2 points per game, 8.9 rebounds and was the Tri-River Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
'Coaches and teammates pushing me,' said Swillis, who acknowledged after last season she needed to be more physical.
'I'm almost probably the biggest person in the Valley (among high school girls basketball players). Just using that to my advantage.'
Her leadership helped the Golden Eagles to another Tri-River Athletic Conference and Central Section Division I championship.
Swillis is The Fresno Bee's Player of the Year.
'She's a 6-3 post player, but she's so much more than that,' Clovis West coach Craig Campbell said. 'She's an athlete, so coachable — I mean, there's everything. Her growth this last year has been tremendous to see when she got healthy and cleared and started playing for us now. We've really pushed her.'
Despite the loss to Archbishop Mitty, where the Golden Eagles almost pulled it out, Swillis was happy that her teammates fought hard until the final buzzer sounded.
The loss didn't define the season. Clovis West still finished 33-1, but she hopes the season continues to set the standard.
'We had a big senior class,' Swillis said. 'I feel like all of us stepped up and just felt like showing the freshman class how we basically do it. It was fun.'
Swillis will play college basketball at UNLV.
There is no denying what Campbell and Almeida have done for their respective teams.
This season was historic for both. Clovis West was on an undefeated run. Caruthers had another state title on the mind.
Campbell knew there was noise prior to the season that this could be a down year for Clovis West.
Not even close.
The Golden Eagles put up a memorable season, but still fell one game short.
Campbell was still proud of his team.
'Each team has their own journey, their own path,' Campbell said. 'We lost a couple talented seniors in Athena (Tomlinson) and Ariyah (Smith) last year. We knew we were going to have a lot of senior leadership. We have four college-bound seniors in this class. The maturity, we're a little different than the past.
'I never thought we'd be 33-0 or whatever we were heading into our last game. We figure we'd have four or five losses in the process. We beat two of the top teams out of Oregon. We beat the Nevada state runner-up and one of the top teams out of Florida.'
Almeida, meanwhile, wanted another state title.
Her Blue Raiders won their first in 2019. Then Caruthers returned to Sacramento in 2024 and won.
This year? No problem for Caruthers.
The Blue Raiders defeated Rancho Bernardo 56-37 in the CIF Division II state title at the Golden 1 Center.
'They all wanted it,' Almeida said. 'It took a lot of learning curve by the girls. All of them wanted to say that they were going to be state champions.'
Almeida saw a look into her players where they had 'more focus' this season than they had before.
Her players answered the call.
For that, she earned another Coach of the Year.
'It's a testament, to the community that supports us and all the coaches that support me,' she said. 'Not just my staff, but my coaching village who I get the opportunity to work alongside.'
Sin powered the Cougars to a 25-9 overall record and 7-3 in the TRAC.
She was the go-to player for the Cougars, averaging 17.5 points per game while shooting 56% from the field.
Sin has always been a key player for Clovis, where she often finds a way to get to the basket with her quick awareness.
Jackson led the way for the Golden Bears, averaging 14.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in helping Sierra Pacific to a 50-43 victory over Monache in the Central Section Division II championship.
In that game, she finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
Whether it's from her mom or something else, Almeida is another coach on the court for the Blue Raiders. She did that by leading by example.
She helped Caruthers to back-to-back state championships, scoring 21 points in the final this year.
For the season, she averaged 12.4 points and 6.9 assists per game.
Apajok Ayuen, Jr., Sierra Pacific
Aleeawa Badoni, Sr., Sierra
Kyah Bartlett, Jr., Monache
McKenzee Batemon, Sr., Hanford West
Jaelyn Bourdeau, Sr., Coalinga
Laniece Brinston, Jr., Hanford West
Brooklyn Davis, Jr., Coalinga
Rian Jones-Dillihunt, Sr., El Diamante
Jalissa Espirito, Dinuba
Sienna Evans, Sr., San Joaquin Memorial
Janessa Garza, Sr., Farmersville
Jennifer Gonzalez, Sr., Strathmore
Nyleigh Gregory, Soph., Roosevelt
Sanai Herod, Jr., Bullard
Jadyn Johnson, Sr., Yosemite
Bethany Mendoza, Sr., Firebaugh
Lali Maciel, Jr., Coalinga
Keegan Medeiros, Sr., Clovis West
Natalie Membreno, Jr., Mendota
Izabel Mendez, Sr., Caruthers
Jaylee Moore, Soph., Caruthers
Vivian Moore, Sr., Central
Melanie Navarro, Sr., Lindsay
Alexa Perryman, Sr., San Joaquin Memorial
Milly Rojas, Jr., Monache
Jilari Sandoval, Jr., Mendota
Ava Schletewitz, Jr., Immanuel
Saiya Sidhu, Sr., Clovis
Kayla Silva, Sr., Hanford West
Gi'Anna Smith, Fr., Buchanan
Gia Souza, Soph., San Joaquin Memorial
Keira Thomas, Fr., Immanuel
Mia Va'asili, Sr., Caruthers
Riley Walls, Sr., Clovis West
Caris Williams, Sr., Bullard
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