Branson girls basketball finished the regular season with an impressive overall record of 15-11, finishing 5-3 in MCAL and capping off the season with a 55-21 win over San Rafael.
The team is led by new coach Kayden Korst, who won a Division III state title with Marin Catholic last season.
“I think Branson’s a really unique place,” said Korst. “There’s so much going on other than basketball. So when I have them for two hours, it needs to be completely basketball.”
Captain Barbara Hernandez ‘26 has stepped into a major leadership role as the sole captain of the team this year.
“I’m learning to tell them exactly what we need and what is good for us, especially since I’ve been on the varsity team for two years more than the freshmen have,” said Hernandez.
The team graduated six seniors following last season and has heavily relied on the performance of underclassmen this season so far.
“We’re so young. We’ve got 15-year-olds playing against 18-year-olds on really good basketball teams. We’ve had a lot of injuries and sickness, but they’ve been great. Different kids have stepped up,” said Korst.
Next year, the team will graduate another group of seniors who will take the lessons they learned this year on the Branson girls basketball team beyond the court.
“We’ll have to find other ways to get leadership and accountability and toughness next year. All the things that don’t show up on a stat book our seniors do, and our underclassmen just get to do the fun stuff,” said Korst.
The team is set up well to succeed in the postseason with a MaxPreps ranking of second in the North Coast Section Division Five. The NCS Playoffs start on February 18th, and the championship will be played on the 27th or the 28th.
“Our record probably sets us up for a good seed in our division. The teams we’ll play, they’ve plateaued by now, and we’re just getting started,” said Korst.
As the playoffs approach, Hernandez is optimistic about the challenges ahead.
“My biggest hope is for us to stay together, especially when we’re playing tough opponents,” said Hernandez. “Don’t let the pressure get to us, but work with the pressure.”
