College of the Redwoods Athletics

By Ray Hamill — The quality of talent the H-DNL is developing will be on full display on Saturday afternoon, as the College of the Redwoods women’s basketball team gets set for its home opener.

The CR women will host College of Marin at noon, and both teams feature several local players.

A total of 14 former H-DNL players will be on hand to represent seven of the nine league programs, and many of them are having a big impact for their college teams.

Last year, in head coach Bree Northern’s first season in charge at CR, she had just seven players total available for much of the campaign.

But this year, Northern has put together a sizable roster of 14 players from four different H-DNL schools.

That includes six former Arcata Tigers — Mayleah Jackson, Nora Talty, Addison Wingate, Emmerson Brownfield, Olivia Railsback and Cayenne Pruter.

CR’s roster also included St. Bernard’s Aliyah Vigil and Maddie Costa, South Fork’s Cadence Young and Macy Yarbrough and Fortuna’s Kalie Chittenden.

The Mariners, meanwhile, have three former H-DNL players on their roster, as head coach Emily Schaefer continues to feature multiple Humboldt and Del Norte county players, as she has for several years.

“We’ve been really lucky with the kids we’ve got from that area,” Schaefer has said in the past. “There’s something to be said about the level of hard work there. They’ve been really good for us and they’ve transitioned nicely to our conference.”

This year’s Marin team features sophomore Bella Turner from McKinleyville High, as well as freshmen Brooklyn Carter from Del Norte and Emily Sauers from Ferndale.

Turner has started all seven games this season for Marin and is averaging 8.3 points a game, which is second best on the team, as well as averaging four rebounds a game, which is third best on the team.

The 2024 Mack High graduate scored 15 points in a win at Monterey Peninsula earlier this week, and scored a season-best 18 points in a 106-35 win over Foothill earlier in the campaign.

Carter and Sauers have both had an immediate impact with their new team.

Carter has started two games and has featured in all seven, while averaging 5.7 points a game.

Sauers, who helped lead the Wildcats to a North Coast Section championship last year, also has started two games and appeared in all seven and is averaging five points a game.

That’s 19 points a game the local contingent is averaging for this weekend’s visitors.

Both Carter and Sauers have each scored double digits in a pair of games so far.

The Mariners are 4-3, including a 73-38 win at Monterey Peninsula on Tuesday night, while CR is now 4-4 after dropping three games at Sierra last weekend.

Saturday’s game is set for noon.