Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball’s Yoshida gets league’s top honor

With an astute court awareness, Taylor Yoshida proved to be a top-flight player over the past four seasons.

As a gifted guard for the Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball team, Yoshida led the charge, as she averaged 14.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 steals per game this season.

For her contributions, Yoshida was selected the Prep League Most Valuable Player. She also earned a spot on the all-league first team.

“It’s really cool to be MVP because we had a great season,” said Yoshida, who helped the Rebels win the CIF Southern Section Division V-AA championship in 2016. “The main goal coming into the season was to win league again and we were able to do that.

“I got a lot of help from my teammates and our coaches [Kevin Kiyomura and Jayme Chan] did everything possible to make us better so we could win league.”

Yoshida eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career during a league road game against rival Pasadena Poly on Jan. 25.

“I really couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Kiyomura said. “Being a point guard, she did so many things well and that helped make the team better.

“She’d come downcourt and find her teammates early. That would open up our offense and give our offense more options.”

Senior Renae Tamura and freshman Kaitlyn Chen of Flintridge Prep received first-team honors.

Tamura, a guard, registered 13 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest. Tamura also went over the 1,000-point mark against Pasadena Poly on Feb. 3.

“Good things happened when Renae was on the court,” Kiyomura said. “She did such a great job at defending and rebounding.

“She had the ability to score down low or make mid-range shots.”

Chen, a forward, contributed 12 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better first season from Kaitlyn,” Kiyomura said. “She came up huge for us throughout the season and she’s going to be a big part of the program going forward.”

Freshman guard Andie Kim of Flintridge Prep was named to the second team.

Kim averaged 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.1 assists.

Flintridge Prep (24-3, 12-0 in league) earned the second seed in the Division III-A playoffs and advanced to the quarterfinals.