By Damien Barling
MaxPreps.com
When the final buzzer sounded, players and coaches donned t-shirts that read: "El Camino's 500 Wins. Baxter's milestone. 1-23-07."
Coach Bill Baxter had just led his Lady Eagles to a 96-15 victory over Mira Loma, marking his 500th career win.
"Now the girls and I are permanently bonded because we got to go through this night together," Baxter said. "I don't think any of us will forget what happened here tonight."
The suspense of the game was over pretty early as El Camino jumped out to a 29-2 first quarter lead that extended to 56-5 by halftime. That didn't stop all the family, friends, former players, and students from sticking around to celebrate another milestone for Baxter.
Baxter was presented with a plaque, a license plate, and a cake, all with the number 500 on it.
No doubt Baxter's most spectacular season came in 1993-94, which saw El Camino go 36-0 and capture the state championship. The following year, few remember, the Eagles had an equally incredible season only to drop the state championship game in Oakland.
Since taking over the program in 1987, Baxter has boasted a 500-121 record. Already the winningest coach in San Joaquin Section history, Baxter is now 11th all-time among girls basketball coaches in California. His resume includes 10 trips to the section championship (five wins), five trips to the NorCal finals (three titles), and three appearances in the state championship, with the one win coming in 1994.
Not bad for a guy who started out as the swimming and water polo coach, and didn't even know El Camino had a girls basketball program.
"I honestly didn't know we had a team," Baxter said.
Coach Baxter led the Eagles to the playoffs his first year and never looked back.
Sac High is Unstoppable
Last week I mentioned the clash of the titans that was about to take place between Sac High and Grant. The clash took place, but it was clear there is only one titan in the Metro League - Vicki Baugh.
Sometimes high school players fall victim to the hype and never live up to the high bill set by both the local and national media. That's not happening to Baugh.
With Tennessee assistant coach Nikki Caldwell and Monarchs guard and former Lady Volunteer Kara Lawson in the stands, Baugh proceeded to put on a show no one who was there that night will soon forget.
Collecting 18 points, 25 rebounds, and 7 blocks, Baugh proved to be too much for the once undefeated Grant Pacers to handle. Sac High went on to a convincing, 52-38 win over the Pacers, who finished the week at 17-1.
In all fairness to Grant, Baugh is too much for anyone to handle. Her ability to see the court and dominate the inside is not that of a normal high school senior. Not one Pacer was able to establish any sort of inside game and resorted to outside shots that soon fell cold.
The 6-4 center moves with the speed of a two guard and can see the court like a point guard. Her ability to find the open shooter, often while being triple teamed, is what has led Sacramento to the top of the Metro League with a 16-3 overall record and a 6-0 playoff important league record. It should be noted that the Dragons' three losses came when Baugh sat out an early-season tournament with an ankle sprain.
Baugh's Not Alone
Just as Magic had Kareem, Michael had Scottie, and Kobe had Shaq - Vicki has Coco.
As Baugh continues to dominate everyone on her way to Tennessee, 5-7 senior guard Coco Davis has stepped into the roll of No. 2. A pretty good No. 2 at that.
Davis, headed to San Deigo next year, scored 14 and had 5 steals in Sac High's victory over Grant.
It seemed each time up the court Davis would find a more creative way to get Baugh the basketball. Often splitting double teams of her own, Davis isn't afraid of putting up shots, averaging 13.8 points a game.
If you're in the Sacramento area, don't miss your chance to see Sac High live before they leave town. With the regular season coming to a close I'd expect to see the Vicki and Coco Show doing there thing at Arco Arena when the playoffs come around.
