Highlights: Milly Rojas, Shelley Andrade lift Monache past San Clemente at Cali Live

Rojas is a blossoming star for the Marauders, and leads a stellar C/O 2026 Monache core

Photo by Lance Smith

LADERA RANCH, Calif. - Monache is one of the best high school girls basketball teams in the state that most SoCal fans don't know a thing about.

The Marauders went 31-3 last season en-route to CIF-Central Section Division 2 title, and made the Division I state playoffs, led almost exclusively by sophomores. But sometimes, the Central Valley teams have to do a little extra to earn their respect among fans in the rest of the state, and Monache did just that at Cali Live.

After blowing out reigning Division III regional champion Granada Hills Charter, Monache took down San Clemente 64-53 led by usual suspects Milly Rojas and Shelley Andrade with significant contributions from Kyah Bartlett and London Haynes as well.

Whereas Monache has the continuity of a well-oiled machine, San Clemente is early in the process of fitting together a bunch of intriguing pieces after graduating all-county guard Claire Pham. The Tritons combine a host of sizable returners in the frontcourt preparing for bigger roles, such as Reese Tremper, Kiley Husbands, and Gracie McAlpin, with key transfers Quinsey Bryan (Crean Lutheran) and Andrea Rico (Capistrano Valley Christian). Despite figuring cheimstry out on the fly, San Clemente went 3-1, beating Granada Hills Charter, JSerra, and Victory Christian Academy, and averaged 71.5 PPG.

Photo by Lance Smith

Expect them to coagulate well into an offense with a longstanding penchant for creating good looks in the paint, and form one of Southern Orange County's top teams by midseason.

During evaluation periods, also known as "live viewing periods", NCAA coaches get rare opportunities to scout players in person at certified events. With dead periods and quiet periods taking up most of the summer, live periods provide the majority of the very few chances for those college scouts to watch players from May through August. No contact between NCAA D-1 or D-2 coaches and recruits is allowed during evaluation periods.

Other top CIF-Southern Section teams at Cali Live included Sage Hill, Bishop Montgomery, Moreno Valley, Brentwood School, Windward, Fairmont Prep, St. Anthony, North (Torrance), St. Mary's Academy, Orange Lutheran, Village Christian, Mira Costa, Harvard-Westlake, Redondo Union, Santiago (Corona), Buena Park, Ventura, and many other prominent programs.

The showcase was also well-represented by SoCal's other two sections, the CIF-L.A. City Section and CIF-San Diego Section. Six of last season's eight Open Division City selections were in attendance – Birmingham, Palisades, King/Drew, Hamilton, Granada Hills Charter, and El Camino Real. And the CIF-SDS had a slew of representatives across numerous divisions, including Open Division champion Mission Hills, Bonita Vista, Francis Parker, Victory Christian Academy, and Carlsbad.

Many other big-name programs came from out of the area and even outside the state to play as well, with the CIF-Central Section particularly well-represented by the likes of St. Joseph, Caruthers, Clovis, Central (Fresno), Bakersfield Christian, San Joaquin Memorial, and Morro Bay in addition to Monache. Northern California contenders on-site included Acalanes, Pinewood, McClatchy, Vanden, St. Mary's (Stockton), and Cardinal Newman, and out-of-state strongholds Camas (WA), Jefferson (OR), and Democracy Prep Agassi Campus (NV) also made the trip to Southern Orange County.