Despite the Renegades ending their season much sooner than they wanted their individual and team honors prove their success in their 2011-2012 season. 2011-2012 RENEGADES RECEIVE HONORS The 2011-2012 season marks one the best seasons the Ohlone Women’s Basketball team has ever had. Finishing with an overall record of 24-6, the #4 seed in the Northern California, a 12-0 conference record which gave them their 3rd undefeated conference championship in 4 years. The success started early in their preseason when they knocked off the #1 seed in the North Fresno City College at home in their opening game, coming back from a 18 point deficit. “That was a big confidence builder for us, it showed me how tough this team was and how determined we were.” Coach Allender said. Next for the Renegades came a slew of tournament play meeting both the defending State Champions and the runners up from 2011. They fell 2 points short to Santa Rosa (the defending state champions) on a last second shot but beating City College of San Francisco (state runners up) in a double OT victory to win the Mike Gervasoni Memorial Tournament. Ohlone also went on to win the next 10 of their 14 games taking home another tournament championship at the Tom Martinez tournament. “We started playing much better basketball towards the end of December and got on a roll. Those kids played hard game in and game out and came on top in some tough games.” Head Coach Julia Allender said. The Renegades never let up on the momentum they picked up from their pre season as they headed into conference play. They went undefeated in the Coast Conference South Division in a thrilling OT victory over Mission college in their last conference game of the year. Winning their 4th straight conference championship. The Coast Conference South is composed Ohlone, Mission, SJCC, De Anza, MPC, Hartnell and Cabrillo College. “Our goal going into conference was to go undefeated and that is a tall order for any team in any conference. Going into conference we were the team with the target on our backs. This team respected that and never took anything for granted. They demanded a lot from themselves and each other.” Head Coach Julia Allender said. The Renegades received the #4 seed in the North heading into the California Community College playoffs. First up for them was the #13 seed College of the Redwoods from the Golden Valley conference. In that game the Renegades jumped out to an early 15-0 lead and never looked back defeating Redwoods 68-41. The Renegades then faced Santa Rosa Junior College in the sweet 16 round of the playoffs and ended up losing to the defending state champions and ending their season on a 17 game win streak. “That was a tough match up for us, our lack of size and depth were definitely exposed in that game. We gave up way too many offensive rebounds where they got a lot of second chance points. We missed a lot of easy shots as well. We never felt we had control of the game or the tempo. Santa Rosa is a very good team, they are big, deep and they play good basketball. They out played us that night.” Coach Julia Allender said. Despite the Renegades ending their season much sooner than they wanted their individual and team honors prove their success in their 2011-2012 season. “Our goal every year is to be in the running for and to win a state championship. We obviously came up short this year but despite that we had a great year. This is by far the best year I’ve had here and one or the best years in the history of this program. This was a great group who bought into each other, the system and themselves and accomplished more than a lot of people expected them to. I am very proud of this team.” Coach Julia Allender said. Not only did Ohlone end the season with more than a handful of team honors and successes but also with individual: Sophomore guard Sabrina Swayzer was selected to the All Coast Conference team as an honorable mention and was an all tournament selection in the Tom Martinez tournament. Freshman guard Nikki Beckman was selected to the All Coast Conference team and was an all tournament selection in the Mike Gervasoni Memorial tournament. She also received a full basketball scholarship to attend and play for Cal State University Monterey Bay in the Fall of 2012. Sophomore guard Tina Dang was selected to the All Coast Conference team, was a second Team All State Selection for the California Community College Athletics Association and was named the MVP for the Mike Gervasoni Memorial tournament. Chereese Thomas was selected as the MVP of the Coast Conference South Division, was a First Team All State Selection for the California Community College Athletics Association, was named the 2012 Northern California Player of the Year, was the tournament MVP for the Tom Martinez tournament, and an all tournament selection for both the Sierra Summit tournament and the Caren Franci tournament. She also received a full basketball scholarship to attend and play for San Jose State University in the Fall of 2012. Head Coach Julia Allender was named Coach of the Year for the Coast Conference South Division and was one of two coaches nominated for the 2012 Northern California Coach of the Year. “We have gotten better every year for the last 3 years and we will continue to do that next year. We are returning a solid core and bringing in some talented freshman to continue where we left off.” Coach Julia Allender had to say about the future of this program..