State basketball: Aariah Fox leads Bret Harte over Marina in Division V girls final

With a population of less than 4,000, the city of Angels Camp is known for its jumping frog competition. Many seemed to turn out for the high school girls’ basketball team’s Division V state championship game on Saturday morning at Golden 1 Center to celebrate the town‘s most famous teenager.

That would be 5-foot-9 three-sport star Aariah Fox.

Fox helped deliver a state basketball championship to the Bullfrogs (26-7), scoring 22 points, grabbing 15 rebounds, distributing four assists and getting five steals in a 62-39 victory over Huntington Beach Marina.

“That was great,” Fox said of the crowd support. “That was literally the whole town here.”

Fox had 230 kills during the volleyball season, and showed her versatility and speed from track Saturday by running up and down the court like it was a mere workout. She said she hasn’t decided whether to pursue volleyball or basketball in college. And there’s always track season ahead.

Marina (21-16) received a strong performance from freshman guard Rylee Bradley, who had a game-high 23 points.

“I was a little bit nervous because I’ve never really played in an arena,” Bradley said. “But I feel I adjusted to the situation and played better in the second half.”