Naomi Panganiban is averaging 24 points per game and is the primary reason why the Torreys are 9-5
BY DON NORCROSS
DEC. 25, 2023 10:29 AM PT
Before the basketball season began, La Jolla Country Day coach Terri Bamford pulled aside point guard Naomi Panganiban after practice for a heart-to-heart conversation.
“For this team to succeed,” said Bamford, “you’re going to need to average 30 points a game.”
Keep in mind, in her first three seasons, all as a starter, Panganiban never averaged more than 7.8 points.
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“I was a bit stunned,” said Panganiban.
Recalled Bamford: “She said, ‘30?’”
Panganiban isn’t putting up 30 points a night, but she’s averaging 24 points per game — and is the primary reason why the Torreys, who have won the San Diego Section Open Division title three of the last four seasons, are sitting with a 9-5 record at the Christmas break.
A little homework unveils why Bamford put some full-court pressure on Panganiban. La Jolla Country Day lost the other four starters off of last year’s 29-4 team that advanced to the Southern California Regional championship game.
McDonald’s All-Americans Breya Cunningham and Jada Williams are now starting at Arizona. Sumayah Sugapong is starting at UC San Diego and leading the Tritons in scoring. And Taj Roberts transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Replacing the four All-CIF players are four sophomores.
“At first, I thought she was joking,” Panganiban said of Bamford’s preseason message. “But I kind of realized she’s right. I would have to step into that role. By her saying that, I felt she really believed in me.”
Bamford said she always felt Panganiban was capable of being a go-to scorer. But being surrounded by so much offensive talent the previous three seasons, it wasn’t required.
“Her freshman, sophomore and junior years, she didn’t care how many points she scored. She just cared about the team winning,” Bamford said. “Whatever we needed for the team to win, she was fine. And that attitude is very rare. That shows her passion for the game and passion for winning. To Naomi, it’s truly about the team, not about her.”
A slender 5-foot-7, Panganiban is not the biggest of guards. But she’s athletic, can shoot and is sinewy tough, typically guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter player.
“She’s shifty, she’s crafty. She can score at all three levels (driving to the basket, a mid-range jumper and launching treys),” said Bamford.
Asked if she has enjoyed the role change, Panganiban paused, seemingly not wanting to sound cocky, and yet expressed confidence that she could pull off the responsibility.
“Um, it’s been different,” she said. “It’s been different. I didn’t get to showcase my scoring ability my past three years, but I always believed I had that scoring ability. Seeing it (averaging 24 points) wasn’t really a shock. It’s just a testament to trusting the process the past four years.”
Panganiban, who has committed to San Diego State, has scored 30 or more points in four games, including a season-high 40 in a 65-58 loss to Etiwanda, the No. 2-ranked team in the state.
Now in her 26th season at La Jolla Country Day, Bamford has guided the section’s premier girls basketball program, winning 15 CIF championships, nine Southern California Regional titles and four state championships.
She has produced phenomenal point guards, including Candace Wiggins, Kelsey Plum and Te-Hina Paopao.
Wiggins is Stanford’s all-time leading scorer and played eight seasons in the WNBA. Plum has guided the Las Vegas Aces to back-to-back WNBA titles and won a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in women’s 3-on-3. Paopao, who is finishing her college career this season at South Carolina after playing at Oregon, is a projected first-round pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.
Asked where Panganiban ranks among her point guards, Bamford said, “I say yes, put her name in there because of her ability to carry the team.”
“Wow,” said Panganiban. “That’s an honor, honestly, to be put in that same category. That’s crazy.”
LJCD was the No. 1-ranked team in the section before losing to second-ranked Mission Hills 62-47 last week at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix. Panganiban scored 19 points in the game. The Torreys’ loss did nothing to diminish Mission Hills coach Chris Kroesch’s opinion of the Torreys’ top player.
“She’s awesome. I think she’s incredible,” Kroesch said. “She’s always had it in her to be the No. 1 option. She puts so much pressure on the defense.”
The Mission Hills loss snapped LJCD’s streak of 21 straight wins against San Diego Section teams. Bamford said the loss is an indicator of where the team needs to improve.
“When the game’s on the line, the young players have to look to score and not look so much to Naomi,” she said. “The young kids always look to her to take over. In big games, they’ve got to gain confidence to step up.”
Reached at home the day before Christmas, Panganiban shared her own thoughts about what the loss would do to the Torreys.
“I think it just really lights a fire under us,” she said.