Hunter named league Player of the Year, two others all-league

Tiffany Hunter was named the Avocado League’s Player of the Year for girls basketball, and two of her teammates also earned all-league honors.

In addition to Hunter, Marshai Iverson was named to the league’s first team. Katie Gangnath earned a selection to the Avocado League second team. The all-league players were selected by the Avocado League coaches.

“All three of them are extremely deserving,” said Fallbrook coach Len Whitacre.

Hunter earned first-team all-league honors for 2005-06 and was named to the league’s second team as a sophomore in 2004-05. “She’s been our leading player for three consecutive seasons and has gotten better every year,” Whitacre said.

Two of the other five Avocado League coaches voted for Hunter as the league’s Player of the Year last year, when Fallbrook had a 7-3 league record and finished third in the standings. “This year she was clearly the best player in the league as well as leading us to the championship,” Whitacre said.

Fallbrook had a 9-1 league record in 2006-07, when the Warriors won their first league title since 1985. The Warriors ended the season with a loss to Helix in the CIF Division I semifinals to finish the season with a 23-7 overall record.

“I was excited that I was awarded with that. That was nice,” Hunter said of her Player of the Year honors.

“I didn’t really expect it,” Hunter said. “But it’s nice that I was awarded something to recognize my hard work.”

Hunter was born in Anaheim and was four years old when her family moved to Fallbrook. She started playing basketball in second grade, when she was at Zion Lutheran School.

She spent two years in Las Vegas before returning to Fallbrook and also attended La Paloma Elementary School as well as Zion Lutheran before enrolling in Potter Junior High School and Fallbrook High School.

In addition to playing high school basketball, Hunter also ran cross-country and was on the track and field team as a freshman and sophomore. She was on the lacrosse team for her first three high school years but did not opt to play lacrosse as a senior. Lacrosse and track and field are both spring sports, but during her freshman and sophomore years she competed in both, running the 100-meter dash and throwing the shot put for the track and field team while playing attack wing, defense wing, and center as a lacrosse team member.

Her non-athletic activities included the high school’s Associated Student Body and community service at Children’s Hospital in San Diego and at the Fallbrook Food Pantry.

Hunter was primarily a small forward during her previous years on the high school basketball team. “This year I started playing a lot more guard,” she said.

Hunter’s perseverance on the court has often extended to off-court team matters. “It’s not so much that she’s being defiant or talking back,” Whitacre said. “She just keeps going with things that are over.”

Her willingness to persist with Whitacre often led the coach to have her run “lines,” and as a junior Hunter set Whitacre’s record for most lines run by a player. “I would run her pretty regularly,” Whitacre said.

One day Whitacre had Hunter run 48 laps around the court. “She was at 47 when I told her that was enough,” Whitacre said. “She refused to stop.”

Hunter is still awaiting word from colleges on her future basketball career. She will possibly play at the University of California, San Diego, but if she does not attend UCSD in 2007-08 she will likely play at Mira Costa Community College and then transfer to UCSD or the University of San Diego.

The 2006 graduation of Fallbrook center Jessica Goble provided additional playing time for Iverson and Gangnath during the 2006-07 season. Last year the Warriors had seven starters, and neither Iverson nor Gangnath were full-time starters. As a result, neither of them have previous all-league recognition. “Both of them were very important to us last year but didn’t log enough minutes to make it,” Whitacre said.

Iverson, who is primarily a forward, was often used as a post during her senior season. “We kind of played her out of position a little bit,” Whitacre said. “Marshai was so good defensively at that spot.”

Iverson was also impressive with her offense. “She’s a great jump shooter and tremendous ball handler and very difficult to defend,” Whitacre said.

Whitacre noted Iverson’s high jump shot. “She really gets up in the air, gets high in the air,” Whitacre said. “She’s just a fun kid to watch.”

Gangnath, a junior, was the team’s only non-senior starter in 2006-07. “I think Kaitlin Gangnath has been pretty unheralded,” Whitacre said. “She just did everything from the shooting guard position you could ever want.”

One element of play neither Whitacre nor Gangnath wanted was playing the entire season on two feet requiring surgery after the season. “She has played every night. She played sore and hurt,” Whitacre said.

Gangnath’s statistics included 50 successful three-point shots. She also led the team in assists – from the shooting guard position. “She’s a tremendous all-around basketball player,” Whitacre said. “She works really hard.”