Castaic

CASTAIC BOYS

The Coach

Castaic boys head coach Dominique Butler. PHOTOS BY CHRIS TORRES/THE SIGNAL

2022 Roster

# Name

Year Position 0 Tashaun Barron 11 G/F 1 Giovanni Valentin 11 G 2 Christian Clark 11 G 3 Carson Golden 12 G 4 James Borg 12 F 5 Thristian Lewis 11 G/F 10 Oliver Shand 12 F/C 11 Gavyn Cirricone 12 F 12 Vito Cavallo 11 G 13 Lucas Milan 11 G 14 William Walker 11 G/F 15 Sean Deme 12 G/F 20 Kevin Curtis 11 F/C 21 Jack Shand 10 G/F 24 Noah Crouch 9 G 30 Jonathan Hakim 12 F

2022 Schedule

Nov. 14 at Royal 7 p.m. Nov. 16 Desert Christian 5 p.m. Nov. 17 at La Salle 7 p.m.

Nov. 21-22

Nov. 28

San Gabriel Tournament TBA at Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences 4:30 p.m.

Nov. 29 Golden Valley* 6:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at Cabrillo 7 p.m. Dec. 2 at Valencia* 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6 Granada Hills Charter 6:30 p.m. Dec. 8 Palmdale Aero 5 p.m. Dec. 9 at Hart* 6:30 p.m. Dec. 21 at Rio Hondo Prep 4:30 Jan. 3 at Canyon* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 10 West Ranch* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at Golden Valley* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 17 Valencia* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 24 Hart* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27 Canyon* 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at Saugus* 6:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at West Ranch* 6:30 p.m.

* Foothill League games

GIRLS BASKETBALL

2022 Schedule

Nov. 14 Santa Paula 6:30 p.m. Nov. 22 Lakeview Charter 6 p.m. Nov. 23 at Fillmore 7 p.m. Nov. 29 Golden Valley* 5 p.m. Dec. 2 at Valencia 5 p.m. Dec. 8 at Palmdale Aero 7 p.m. Dec. 9 Hart* 5 p.m. Dec. 17 at Quartz Hill 12 p.m.

Dec. 28-30

at Arvin Holiday Classic TBA Jan. 3 at Canyon* 5 p.m. Jan. 6 Saugus* 5 p.m. Jan. 10 West Ranch* 5 p.m. Jan. 13 at Golden Valley* 5 p.m. Jan. 17 Valencia^ 5 p.m. Jan. 21 Hueneme 1:30 p.m. Jan. 24 Canyon* 5 p.m. Jan. 27 Canyon* 5 p.m. Jan. 31 at Saugus* 5 p.m. Feb. 2 at West Ranch* 5 p.m.

* Foothill League games

The Coach

Castaic Coyotes Head Coach Terra Palmer. PHOTOS BY CHRIS TORRES / THE SIGNAL

Editor’s note: Roster unavailable as of press time.

Castaic Girls Enter First Year of Varsity

By Tyler Wainfeld

Signal Sports Writer

There will be a new entrant into the Foothill League for the 2022-23 season as Castaic girls’ basketball gets ready to embark on its first varsity campaign.

The girls will not be doing it alone, though, as they’ll have a familiar face in the Foothill League to lead them through it in the form of head coach Terra Palmer. She led the Hart girls’ basketball program from 2011 to 2020, resigning at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It takes a lot of hard work [to compete in the league],” Palmer said. “But it also takes a lot of talent. You know, if you want to be one, two or three in the Foothill League, you have to have good basketball players, good basketball players who work hard.”

Palmer will be overseeing a Coyotes team that has no seniors and just three juniors. The varsity roster will most likely be comprised of just eight players.

Sophomore Trinity Haddad is one of those young players, and she has been tasked with being the point guard for Castaic. She’s excited to see what she and her teammates can do even being one of the smaller teams around, both in terms of roster size and physical size.

One of the more important things for Castaic this year will be that everyone will get a chance to play.

“I think it creates a great energy,” Haddad said. “From the past times I’ve played, it’s always been bigger teams. The bigger team we have, it’s more breaks we can have so we can rest. But in this case, we’re just not fortunate enough to have those players. But I feel like it’s very important for everyone to play and to get to feel the game, to know what it’s like. Because I remember sitting on the bench, waiting for me to go in, and it was very exciting. But I think that even though we do have a smaller team, it gives everybody a chance and a shot to prove themselves and to show that we’re all capable of handling the ball on the court.”

The key for Castaic this season: Working hard. That may seem like an obvious statement, but with the lack of ready-to-go talent on the roster, hard work could go a long way.

“We’re gonna have to be the hardest-working team on the floor to compete,” Palmer said.

The good news is, her players have bought in. Led by Haddad, sophomore Alana Clark, junior team captain Leyna Le and freshman Amelia Carson, Palmer has a handful of players who want to improve and put Castaic girls’ basketball on the map.

Le has been in the program the longest, starting out when it first popped up her freshman season, and Palmer sees her as being one of the team’s top options to score out of the guard position to go along with her leadership role.

“I want to be a team leader overall,” Le said. “I was chosen as captain last year because we had one combined team, and so I had to step up as seniority. Since we have no seniors, I was like one of the upperclassmen, and I just want to be there for everyone. Because although they haven’t been through COVID and all the game situations, I have, and I don’t want them to go through that. So, I want them to do their best.”

Clark, who has two brothers in the Castaic boys’ basketball program, has noticed a tougher schedule to get the Coyotes ready for the season compared to how it was getting ready for last year’s JV-only schedule. That, she said, can only help as they get ready to perform in front of family, friends and even some more hostile atmospheres on the road.

“It’s definitely been a lot different than the past couple years,” Clark said. “Last year, we played a lot more tournaments. This year, we’re playing in league, so it’s a little bit different. Our families are going to be in the stands, our friends are going to be in the stands. So going into preseason, we’re thinking, ‘Oh crap, our school’s gonna be watching us. We need to be prepared, we need to be ready.’ So, I feel like this preseason, we’ve been a lot more focused. And it’s also just kind of like a realization, like, ‘Oh, we’re playing basketball in league this season.’”

The preparation might be tougher and the challenges may be harder to overcome, but Palmer’s expectations remain the same: Get better every day. Work hard every day. Try to win every game.

“I hope to see us compete every game,” Palmer said. “I hope to see us leave it all out on the floor every day. And I hope to be able to say at the end of the season that we’ve worked as hard as we could, we gave it everything we had, and we got better. That’s the goal.” 

Castaic Takes the CAB into Foothill League Contention

By Justin Vigil-Zuniga

Signal Sports Writer

Coyotes boys’ basketball will enter its second year of varsity action but its first with head coach Dominique Butler.

Butler has had an easy transition into being the team’s coach this summer. He has instilled the team to go by the motto “CAB,” standing for communication, accountability and balance.

“Once I got the job and saw the hard work the guys were putting in, it was just second nature for me to hop in and add my philosophy and culture,” said Butler. “They tapped in right away and made my job effortless because these guys are hard-working, they communicate well and their attitudes are great.”

Butler previously coached at Arrowhead Christian and inherits a gritty team that doesn’t show many signs of being a new program. The Coyotes have athletes, shooters, defenders and plenty of them.

Junior guard Gio Valentin fits all those categories and will be one of the top players for Castaic.

“We score on three levels,” said Valentin. “We have bigs that can shoot the three. We have little dudes that can get up. We can score all around.”

Senior forward Jonathan Hakim will be another threat on offense while also leading the team on and off the court.

Hakim is the team’s only AllLeaguer from last season and is excited for what’s brewing in Castaic.

“Our culture and energy is unmatched compared to any team we play,” said Hakim. “No matter who it is, our energy and culture has grown so much since last year. We play as a family. We don’t play as individuals and I think that’s the biggest part of our success and the biggest key for our future.”

The team will add depth to the backcourt later in the season when Vito Cavallo’s transfer period ends. Cavallo can move the ball effectively and be a strong addition at point guard alongside Carson Golden. Forward Thristian Lewis brings great energy to them and can be a spark plug for the Coyotes. Gavyn Cirricione will be one of the team’s sharpSee CASTAIC, page 42

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