Rocklin basketball player wins national championship for youth team

Mary Carter is a junior basketball player at Rocklin High School and is also a player for the 17 and under Cal Stars Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) team who won the National Championship on July 25. Carter began playing basketball at the age of three and was playing in a league by the time she was five. Her parents both played basketball and her father, Andy Carter, coached the girls' varsity team at Whitney High School from 2011 to 2013. "I loved hanging out with my dad at the gym as a kid and it made me keep wanting to come back," Mary Carter said. Carter began playing on an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team in second-grade, although it was a fifth-grade team. She got put on the team as a developmental player. Carter's coach was her current high school coach, Jenna Herford. "Watching Mary throughout the years has been very fun and I'm very proud of the player she has become," Herford said. "Even from a young age, she stepped up to every challenge and played tough in every game." In her first two seasons with Rocklin, Carter averaged a double-double and earned First-Team All-SFL honors. Despite being limited to five games in the spring season, Carter also had 4.5 blocks per game. "It was a pretty big accomplishment for me because going into high school, I felt like I needed to prove myself," Carter said. Her journey with the Cal Stars started in fifth-grade when she went to a tournament in Oregon with her Amateur Athletic Union team and saw the Stars playing. At that moment, Carter decided she wanted to play on that squad when she became older. In 2019, she tried out for the 15-and-under team. One of the coaches wanted her for the 16-and-under team, but Carter felt at the time it was too far away because the team practices in Antioch. Carter and her family kept in touch with the program and, last year, Stars coach Kelly Sopak came to their house. They had a conversation, which solidified that joining the team was the right choice. "In a nutshell, we look for three things, talent, work ethic and attitude, and Mary checks all the boxes," Sopak said. Carter has played tournaments in Virginia, Minnesota, South Carolina, Iowa, Texas, Boise, Idaho and Chicago. In 2021, the team went 38-2 and won seven tournaments. "The biggest thing I noticed was the speed because it's a lot faster, but everyone knows how to adapt," Carter said. "It's much more similar to a college than a high school as everyone in this league will probably go to a Division I college." In her five games at Nike Nationals, Carter averaged 3.2 points per game and 1.6 rebounds. She had nine points in the semifinal game against Philly Rise going 3-3 from the three-point line also adding a block to her statline. Her main role all tournament long was to shoot, play defense and grab rebounds. "Mary out performed her role at Nike Nationals and deserved more time," Sopak said. "We don't win the national championship without Mary Carter." One of Carter's favorite aspects of the team were the friendships and connections she made. Carter plans on returning to the team in 2022 to attempt to go back-to-back and win the national championship once again. "Getting to play and be around Mary this year was so much fun," Stars teammate Sofia Bell said. "She is a hard worker and continued to improve throughout the season." In the meantime, Carter will enter her junior season with Rocklin High School and is looking to continue her double-double average. The Thunder have a combined record of 14-22 in the last two seasons. "I want to have a winning record this season, which I feel is realistic for us," Carter said. Carter already has Division I offers from colleges and universities, including University of California at Santa Barbara, Rice University in Houston, Texas, Sacramento State University and Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.