Gabby Green – Berkeley – Basketball

After injuries derailed the greater part of her junior season, it was a pretty good bet that the Panthers’ All-American wing was going to come out for her senior year with a major chip on her shoulder. In fact, the St. Mary’s team as a whole is playing as if it has something to prove — perhaps that it’s a major state title contender. The Cal-bound Green, and fellow Cal-bound senior Mikayla Cowling, are leading the charge…

St. Mary’s-Berkeley – Basketball – Senior

   After injuries derailed the greater part of her junior season, it was a pretty good bet that the Panthers’ All-American wing was going to come out for her senior year with a major chip on her shoulder. In fact, the St. Mary’s team as a whole is playing as if it has something to prove — perhaps that it’s a major state title contender. The Cal-bound Green, and fellow Cal-bound senior Mikayla Cowling, are leading the charge. And after a Jan. 4 win over National-No. 1 Mater Dei-Santa Ana, everybody is definitely paying attention to the Panthers. In the 54-41 win over the Monarchs — which avenged a 66-53 loss a few weeks earlier — Green posted a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds. She also helped in the defensive effort against Mater Dei All-American wing Kate Lee Samuelson. The Panthers are now No. 5 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Rankings. 

   IN HER OWN WORDS: “I feel like things are going really well for us right now. We’ve won some really tough games. We set a goal to win a state title and we’re really working hard to make sure we’re getting closer to each other and closer to that goal.”

   WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW: Green may have a borderline obsession with Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant. “I can watch YouTube videos of him for hours. I may have watched his movie (“Thunderstruck”) like 10 times over Christmas Break.”

HONORABLE MENTIONS 

Paul Fox — The Gilroy senior has been a two-time runner at the CIF State wrestling championships. He’ll get one more shot this year, and he’s on the right track after winning the 152-pound title at the prestigious Doc Buchanan Tournament in Clovis on Jan. 4.

Megan Reid — The Miramonte-Orinda senior two-sport star took a night off from basketball to score all four goals in a 4-1 DFAL soccer victory over Alhambra on Jan. 13.

Temidayo Yussuf — The St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda senior scored a game-high 27 points on Jan. 8 to lead the Pilots basketball team to a 55-49 win over previously-undefeated El Cerrito.