Promoted to Central Valley High School's varsity girls basketball team as a sophomore, Mia Lorenzo improved each season.

The senior guard, along with Bulldog standouts Nicole Bates and Perla Vargas all garnered recognition in a vote by the Western Athletic Conference varsity girls basketball coaches on Feb. 24 in Livingston.

Lorenzo was selected to the WAC First team.

She propelled the Bulldogs to a tie for third place in conference play (5-7) with the crosstown Hawks.

Patterson (12-0) defended its WAC title. Central Catholic and Los Banos (8-4) tied for second.

"Mia was our team leader," Hawks head coach Jesse Padilla said. "The other girls looked up to her."

Lorenzo averaged 12.1 points and 4.0 assists per game during her final season with Central Valley.

She finished third in all-WAC voting.
"She played hard," Padilla said. "She always shared the ball. She was a very unselfish player. She was brought up that way."

Mia averaged 9.8 points, 3.9 steals, 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists her junior year. She shot 39 percent (13 of 39) from 3-point range.

Lorenzo contributed 7.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.5 assists per game for Central Valley in 2011-12. The Hawks earned their second straight WAC title and Sac-Joaquin Section playoff berth.

Lorenzo will be remembered as one of Central Valley's best players, along with Julie Calderon (2006-2009) and Brittany Martinez (2010-2013).

"I would have liked to have seen them play together," Padilla said. "There won't be another player like Mia coming through here in a while. It's a big loss. She brought a lot of energy to the game. I'd put her in the top three."

Bates received second-team, all-league accolades.

The sophomore point guard led the Bulldogs in scoring for the second consecutive year.

Nicole averaged 13.1 points per game. She buried a wide-open jumper from the free-throw line at the buzzer to lift Ceres High to a 48-47 win over Central Valley on Jan. 23.

A first-team honoree as a freshman, Bates averaged 15.1 points.

Vargas, a junior guard, was an honorable-pick.

Perla scored 12 points in the Bulldogs' victory against the Hawks.

She tallied 13 points as Ceres High topped Livingston 45-31 on Feb. 4.

Patterson's Jovanah Arrington was voted WAC MVP. She averaged 13.0 points and 7.0 assists.

Elizabeth Tolleson (Patterson) was named Coach of the Year.