SAINTS SOPHOMORES LOOK BACK ON BASKETBALL CAREER

Saturday marks the final home game for the MHCC Saints women’s basketball team – and the last time on the home court for three sophomores in the middle of a strong season.

Center/forward Emily Webber (No. 32 on the roster); shooting guard/point guard Mina Sete (No. 25) and shooting guard Tatyana Lyles (No. 3) have all learned a lot from playing the game, with an extensive background when it comes to basketball.

Along with a fourth sophomore, guard Bri Rosales (No. 22), who came from Las Vegas, the trio have helped lead the Saints to fourth place in the South Division of the Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Saints (18-9 overall, 10-5 in the South) clinched a playoff spot in the 16-team NWAC championship tournament that starts March 5 in Everett, Washington (thanks to a loss Wednesday by Linn-Benton Community College).

But first comes “Sophomore Night,” when the Saints host Linn-Benton at 2 p.m. in the Yoshida Events Center, when the second-year players will be honored. (The Saints men wrap up their season against the Roadrunners right after, at 4 p.m.)

Webber and Sete both attended high school in Utah: Webber went to Tooele High School and Sete went to Alta High School, both near Salt Lake City, while Tatyana Lyles attended Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster, California.

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Photo by Bethany Fallgren|The Advocate

In their second year playing for Mt. Hood, all three are also majoring in General Studies. The three also had similar views when thinking about where they see themselves in the future.

“Hopefully I’ll be done with school,” said Webber.

Said Lyles, “Hopefully, I can start my business, start my family.”

Each of the sophomores said the sport has a significant impact on each of their lives growing up: “I’ve been playing competitively since fifth grade,” said Webber, who currently leads the Saints with 12.5 points per game and was recently named NWAC Player of the Week for her strong play.

“I got the love for basketball,” said Lyles, averaging 11.1 points per game.

Said Sete, who scores about 7 points per game, “It’s taught me a lot of life lessons. I’m grateful to have played for so many years.”

With their years of playing ball, each holds many favorite memories from the sport.

“Traveling with the (MHCC) team and NWACs (the league championship tournament) last year” were highlights for Webber.

Lyles and Sete listed their all-star games in high school as a favorite memory, the latter also recalling her eighth- and ninth-grade state championships.

All three were recruited to Mt. Hood by head coach Jeremy Vandenboer, who Webber said “teaches us life lessons… teaches us how to be a better person.” She and Sete met Vandenboer, who had recruited several players from Utah previously.

Lyles said Vandenboer and her teammates were main inspirations for coming to Gresham, specifically “the relationships,” she said. Playing with the Saints “kind of builds you to be stronger in life,” she said.

Joining the Saints also allowed Lyles “to get out of California and explore another world. MHCC seemed like a good choice,” she said.

All three agreed that off the basketball court they enjoy hanging out with friends and eating food.

Webber’s favorite food is breakfast burritos, and she enjoys Café Rio in Utah; her favorite artist to listen to is Billie Eilish.

Sete said she loves pasta, fruit, and mangoes, and enjoys listening to R&B, and to Russ. Lyles’s favorite food to enjoy is seafood, and she is also a fan of R&B and rap, specifically the late Nipsey Hussle. 

Meantime, the team is looking forward to the championship tournament, but also anyone who can make it to attend their MHCC finale. As for the Saints’ tournament hopes in Everett, the three women agreed, “We’re excited and confident.”