Subscribe
to the E-Star!

Badgers' Fipps and company drive for title

Mike Hackworth

(Updated: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 12:00 AM)

Sydnee Fipps chases school records, may become highest scorer in school history

With the Central Section Girls Basketball playoffs opening Feb. 24, Yosemite High School's hopes of wrestling the Division II title away from the Hanford High School rely on the team's ability to score and score often. The Bullpups currently lead the Central Section in scoring with 2,146 points for a 79.5 points per game average.

The Lady Badgers will depend on junior forward Sydnee Fipps to put the numbers on the scoreboard. Fipps is a consummate athlete and scholar, who has no quit in her.

In her three years on the Badgers varsity, Fipps has scored 1,684 points -- 661 of which were scored this season. She is on track to become the most prolific scorer in Yosemite girls' basketball history and she still has another season to play.

Fipps is chasing the records of Katie Menton (2003-2007), now a starter at Pepperdine University, who rewrote the Yosemite record book in her senior season, setting nine school career and season records.

As of Monday, Fipps was third in the state in points scored and a 24.5 points per game average shooting 51% from the floor.

"This is a fantastic season for us," Fipps said. "This team has come together and we are playing very well right now."

The team is working on a 66-game win streak in league play and its eighth consecutive league title.

"I am having more fun this season than any other," Fipps said. "We get along great and the team has terrific chemistry."

Much of the team's success this season is in the tandem of Fipps and senior point guard Jenay Herring.

"Jenay and I learned a lot this past summer playing on our travel team," the 5-foot-10-inch junior said. "We work smoothly together and know what each other are going to do before we do it."

The teamwork shows in the numbers as well as the victories. Herring is working on setting a new assist record and leads the Central Section with 224, 8.3 per game average.

Fipps, also a team player, is strong on defense and an unselfish player.

"What I need to continue to work on are my leadership skills," Fipps said. "With graduation we lose four seniors and, in order to continue to be successful, we need to prepare for next season too."

Fipps has become an all-around star and continues to chalk up the numbers. Defensively she has 278 rebounds, 10.3 per game average, and is averaging 3.1 steals per contest. She has 16 double-doubles this season and 36 in her career. Every time she has a double-double, it is a new school record.

"Right now it is winning one game at a time with our goal of taking back the section title. I am not even thinking about what happens next year or beyond," Fipps said.

Badgers notes

Coach Gary Blate has now won 188 games as the Yosemite High girl's basketball coach.

With 1,879 points scored this season, the No. 7 ranked team in Division II in the state needs 121 points to finish the season as the No. 2 scoring team in school history -- behind the 2005-06 section champs who scored 2,538 points and won a school record 35 games.