Johansen girls basketball looks to continue historic season with playoff win
When the Sac-Joaquin Section released its 2022 boys and girls basketball playoff pairings on Feb. 15, it revealed a piece of history.
For the first time in more than 15 years, the Vikings girls basketball team has earned a spot in the Sac-Joaquin Section Playoffs.
On Wednesday, Feb. 16, they have a Division II play-in game on the road against Bear Creek in Stockton for the chance to compete against Vista del Lago on Feb. 17.
The man at the helm? Third-year coach Derrick McLaughlin.
The Vikings had two goals at the beginning of the season: Win a league title and secure a spot in the playoffs.
Johansen had a subpar 2-5 start throughout the first few games of the season and McLaughlin admits, “Some of the wins slipped away from us.”
The Vikings bounced back to finish third in the Western Athletic Conference and earn a 17 seed in Division II.
It’s a family affair
If you ask McLaughlin, this is a “revenge year.”
They almost made the playoffs once.
In 2020, the Vikings’ postseason fate was decided in their second league game against Ceres. They lost to the Bulldogs at home, 34-31, essentially crushing their playoff hopes.
“We thought we were gonna get an at-large bid, but ultimately it just didn’t fall in our cards that way.” McLaughlin said.
Jodene Martinez and Aminah Manning, the older sisters of current players Alize Martinez and Amira Manning, were teammates two years ago as seniors, and though they graduated without a playoff appearance, their impact is still being felt on this year’s team.
Aminah Manning is off at college, but whenever she’s in town, she makes it out to a game, McLaughlin said. Jodene Martinez serves on the Vikings’ coaching staff and isn’t shy about lending her opinion when it is needed.
“They’re teaching us things that they didn’t do when it was their turn, so they’re trying to help us get further than where they got.” Alize Martinez said.
McLaughlin said he saw a shift in the team’s demeanor after one game: a home matchup with Los Banos.
The Vikings went into the contest against the Western Athletic Conference’s top team with a 2-4 league record, but they were playing at home.
Led by double doubles from Amira Manning and Alize Martinez, the Vikings won 47-42.
“We’re tough at home,” McLaughlin said. “We don’t lose a lot at home, so once that game happened, we were like, ‘We’re back in this thing.’”
Don’t sleep on Johansen
This year’s run has been all about changing the local narrative about their school.
“People come into Johansen expecting to dog us,” Amira Manning said. “But as underdogs, we really showed that we really do have athletes here and that we work hard and try to succeed.”
McLaughlin has the same mindset, “Don’t sleep on us,” he said. “They used to think Johansen was a layup. Don’t put us as that anymore.”
The Vikings receive production from more than just the Martinez-Manning duo. Sophomore Bethany Albarran averages almost 10 points per game, and junior Elizabeth Romero has had her best two weeks of the season, scoring 10 or more points in two of the Vikings’ last four games.
“Everything’s not gonna come to you at once,” Alize Martinez said. You just have to put in time. And if you don’t put time in, how are you going to get it?”
As a junior, Martinez is hoping this isn’t just a one-off. She sees the playoff berth as a building block for the program.
“It’s an eye-opener,” she said. “Our younger levels come and support us more and they’re always in our group chat hyping us up before the game. So as we go to the playoffs, our lower levels they’re gonna get hyped with us. So during the summer, we’re gonna really work on (our game). We’ll all be up to the same level with each other and we’ll come back again next season.”
