Etiwanda’s Kennedy Smith is the IE Varsity Girls Athlete of the Year
Smith, who is headed to USC, helped the Etiwanda girls basketball team win CIF Southern Section and CIF State championship as well as a pair of mythical national titles.
Etiwanda girls basketball standout Kennedy Smith has been chosen the IE Varsity Girls Athlete of the Year. Smith helped the Eagles win CIF Southern Section and CIF State championship and a mythical national title. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Notable highlights: Kennedy Smith capped her high school career in style.
Smith, a 6-foot-1 forward who is headed to USC in the fall, averaged 20.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while making 54% of her shots from the field. Smith helped the Etiwanda girls basketball team capture CIF Southern Section and CIF State Open Division titles, a combination that also resulted in the Eagles being declared this past season’s mythical national champions by MaxPreps.com and SBLive.com.
Her outstanding play and leadership on and off the basketball court are why Smith has been selected as the IE Varsity Girls Athlete of the Year.
Etiwanda girls basketball standout Kennedy Smith has been chosen the IE Varsity Girls Athlete of the Year. Smith helped the Eagles win CIF Southern Section and CIF State championship and a mythical national title. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Etiwanda senior forward Kennedy Smith, awarded the IE Varsity Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, proudly sits surrounded by the team’s awards on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Rancho Cucamonga. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Etiwanda girls basketball standout Kennedy Smith has been chosen the IE Varsity Girls Athlete of the Year. Smith helped the Eagles win CIF Southern Section and CIF State championship and a mythical national title. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Etiwanda senior forward Kennedy Smith, awarded the IE Varsity Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, proudly displays the 2024 CIF championship award on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Rancho Cucamonga. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Etiwanda senior forward Kennedy Smith, awarded the IE Varsity Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, proudly sits surrounded by the team’s awards on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Rancho Cucamonga. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Kennedy Smith #11 of Etiwanda Drives to the basket against McKenna Woliczko #20 of Archbishop Mitty in the first half of a CIF State Open Division girls basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 9, 2024. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Kennedy Smith #11 of Etiwanda Drives to the basket against Archbishop Mitty in the first half of a CIF State Open Division girls basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 9, 2024. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Etiwanda’s Kennedy Smith, (#11), drives to the basket against Sierra Canyon’s Mackenly Randolph, (#4), during the CIF State Open Division girls basketball regional championship game at Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca., March 5, 2024. The Eagles advance to the state final again and will face Archbishop Mitty for a rematch of last years state championship game.(Contributing Photographer/John Valenzuela)
Etiwanda girls basketball standout Kennedy Smith hugs her mother Monica Smith, after she presented her daughter with her McDonald’s All-American Game jersey. A short ceremony was held prior to the Eagles’ CIF Southern Section Open Division pool-play game against Bishop Montgomery.at Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca., Feb. 14, 2024. (Contributing Photographer/John Valenzuela)
Etiwanda’s Kennedy Smith (#11), shoots the basketball over a Bishop Montgomery defender during their CIF Southern Section Open Division pool-play game at Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca., Feb. 14, 2024. (Contributing Photographer/John Valenzuela)
Etiwanda’s Kennedy Smith, (#11), and teammate Aliyahna Morris, (#25), after defeating Sierra Canyon 54 -51 in their CIF State Open Division girls basketball regional championship game at Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca., March 5, 2024. The Eagles advance to the state final again and will face Archbishop Mitty for a rematch of last years state championship game.(Contributing Photographer/John Valenzuela)
Kennedy Smith #11 hugs teammate Grace Knox #23 as Etiwanda defeated Archbishop Mitty 60-48 to win a CIF State Open Division girls basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 9, 2024. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
1 of 12
Etiwanda girls basketball standout Kennedy Smith has been chosen the IE Varsity Girls Athlete of the Year. Smith helped the Eagles win CIF Southern Section and CIF State championship and a mythical national title. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Etiwanda has been one of the state’s premier girls basketball programs for more than a decade, and Smith was a member of title-winning squads as a sophomore and junior. But there was something missing in each of those seasons. The Eagles won a CIF Southern Section championship in 2022 but a state title went unclaimed. In 2023, Etiwanda came up short in the section finals but bounced back to win the program’s first state title.
Smith and her teammates finally put all the pieces together this season and brought home both championships in dominant fashion. The Eagles rolled to a 65-44 victory over Sierra Canyon in the Southern Section final and cruised to a 60-48 win over Archbishop Mitty in the CIF State final. And the latter one was a historic win, too, as Etiwanda became the first Inland girls basketball program to capture a second state championship.
And the honors rolled in. Smith was selected the IE Varsity Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the third consecutive season. She was chosen Gatorade’s California Player of the Year and also was the Ms. Basketball award winner given out by Cal-Hi Sports.com. Smith also became just the fourth Inland girls basketball player selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game. And she led the West Team in scoring that game.
But team success mattered most to Smith, and Etiwanda went 111-12 during her four seasons, including a 40-0 record in the Baseline League.
“For me, I just tried to leave a lasting legacy and I think we definitely accomplished that goal.” Smith said earlier this year about her career at Etiwanda.
Etiwanda coach Stan Delus often praised Smith’s ability to adapt her game to the team’s needs each season. Smith primarily was a post player when she arrived at Etiwanda, but she expanded her game and became a scoring threat from the perimeter as well as the paint. Smith finished her career as Etiwanda’s leading scorer (2,122 points) and also finished in the top six for career rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and 3-pointers.
