NEWMAN, Calif – Now the second season for the Orestimba High girls basketball team begins on Friday.
Orestimba (8-6), after playing its preseason games and an invitational for almost two months, begin Trans-Valley League action on Friday when it plays at Sonora (4-7). The game is scheduled to tipoff at 5:30 p.m.
This season is a new challenge for the Warriors, who won the Southern Athletic League titles in the last two seasons. Orestimba joined the TVL for the 2024-28 league realignment cycle.
“Going from the Southern League to the TVL is definitely going to be a change,” said Orestimba head coach Dwain Bell. “The TVL is going to be tough. There are a lot of great teams this year.”
Orestimba is the only school in TVL girls basketball that has a winning record. Escalon follows with a 7-8 mark, followed by Ripon Christian (4-5) and Ripon (6-9).
Despite some of the foes having a below .500 record, Bell feels his team will be playing very tough teams in the ones listed, plus Hughson and Hilmar that have a combined two wins, from Friday until Feb. 13, when the Warriors close out league play at Escalon.
“We are really going to have to play our “A” game every game if we want to come out on top,” Bell said. “Escalon is returning a lot of their good players.”
Orestimba played Ripon at the Todd Messersmith Classic Invitational at Liberty Ranch High of Galt in a loser’s bracket game on Dec. 14. Ripon edged the Warriors by a 41-39 score.
“Ripon is on the up and up and are really well coached,” said Bell, “and I believe the rest of the TVL will be a test… I believe we are ready for them.”
Some of the Warriors’ wins in preseason came against bigger schools like Merced, which split its two meetings with Orestimba that included winning its most recent game at the Bears’ gym on Dec. 28. Orestimba also knocked off Enochs of Modesto and Downey, also of Modesto.
On top of that, Orestimba played Liberty Ranch in the first game of the invitational on Dec. 13. Although the host Hawks won, the Warriors became stronger by playing against stronger teams that they lost to in Liberty Ranch and Patterson, which is now a member of the Valley Oak League after being in the Central California Conference from 2018 to 2024.
“Having a tough preseason schedule, and coming out of it 8-6, I believe has prepared us for league,” Bell said.
Warrior forward Olivia Gray leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game this season. Ashley Bell is next in scoring at 7.6 points per game.
After Friday’s game, Orestimba will play its next two games on the road. The Warriors have their rematch at Ripon on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and play at Hilmar on Friday, Jan. 17 at 5:30 p.m.
Mike Bush is a multimedia journalist who was born and raised in the Stanislaus and Merced County areas. Follow him on X/Twitter @MikeBMultimedia and Instagram @mikebushphotography.
