The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) basketball season is in the books. The men’s and women’s teams each fell short in the GNAC tournament. However, both the teams had two players make First Team All-GNAC and the ‘Cats swept GNAC Player of the Year.
Senior guard and the all-time leading scorer of the CWU women’s team Sunny Huerta was recognized as women’s basketball GNAC Player of the Year. Then sophomore guard Cavin Holden capped off his regular season as men’s GNAC Player of the Year. It doesn’t stop there, though, as the head coach of the men’s team, Coach Brandon Rinta, was recognized as GNAC men’s basketball Coach of the Year.
Huerta averaged 18 points per game for her third straight season. The tenured guard has been a consistent scorer since she stepped foot on campus and the Wildcats will have to find a way to stay competitive without her. Junior guard Asher Cai was the other women’s player on the roster to make First Team All-GNAC, as we will likely see her as the primary ball handler next season.
Huerta said that what she learned in her CWU career is a level of toughness as well the ability to set a standard for herself. “I think it’s just the standard I’ve held myself to over the years, just trying to get the best out of myself every single year and improving every single year and pushing myself beyond limit,” Huerta said.
Holden averaged 15 points per game, 4 assists per game and was ranked as the second best three-point shooter, shooting 45% from beyond the arc. Holden made his defensive presence known as well, averaging 1.5 steals per game. He spoke on what it means to be the GNAC Player of the Year as just a sophomore.
“Man, it’s such a great feeling but first, I want to thank God. He put me in positions and gave me opportunities that other people don’t have; he gave me a gift of playing basketball,” Holden said. “Second, I want to thank my family for what they do for me. They watch every game and text me at every halftime. I wouldn’t be the person or basketball player I am right now if it wasn’t for them. Third, I want to thank my team. This could be one of the best teams I’ve been on in my whole life. The bond that we have off and on the court is just amazing. I just want to give them all the credit because this is a team sport. If I wanted to talk about myself, I would go play golf or tennis. I want to thank them and my coaches.”
Coach Rinta, a former member of the Wildcats as a player, had quite a special year for himself. Following him, leading the team to the GNAC championship last season, Rinta tallied career win number 100 this season, leading the Wildcats to a regular season record of 14-4 in conference play.
Speaking on Coach Rinta winning GNAC Coach of the Year, Holden detailed the high level of work all the coaches put in. “Coach Rinta winning coach of the year is special to see. People think it’s just the players out there doing it, but they don’t see how much the coaches put in,” Holden said. “All of our coaches, Rinta, Coach Church and Coach Brooks do an amazing job with film review, scouting and having a relationship with the players.”
Both teams also received a bid to the NCAA DII tournament as the six seed. The women play March 14 against three-seed Point Loma University and the men play the following day, March 15, against three seed Chico State University.
