Sophomore Alexes Collier Joins Mom/Coach as All-State Eagle

The Eagle women's basketball team finished its 2026 season with a 7-3 conference record, five players who earned all-conference honors, and a spot in the California Community College State Playoffs.

The only sophomore in their starting lineup, point guard Alexes Collier, made 3^rd Team All-State while finishing her Siskiyous career with more than 1,000 points and two 1^st Team All-Conference awards.

Though she's already moved on to softball season, Alexes will be in Visalia this week to receive her All-State award and play in the State's annual Sophomore Showcase game.

She hasn't yet finalized where she'll go next, but she has some options and could have more after the Sophomore Showcase, which will be watched by recruiters from four-year schools.

Alexes' future goals include playing basketball at the next level while majoring in engineering. At some future date, possibly next basketball season, she'll have her jersey hung on the Eagles' basketball Wall of Fame in Tom Powers Court along with other former Eagles who made All-State. That includes her mother/head coach, Noelle, who was 3^rd Team All-State her sophomore season at Siskiyous in 2004.

This year's All-State players will be recognized March 11 during the Banquet of Champions/Hall of Fame event at College of the Sequoias in Visalia. Also honored at the event will be this year's State Hall of Fame inductees and the teams that will be competing for the State Championships March 12, 14 and 15.

Alexes, a versatile 5-foot-5 point guard from Yreka who had great success driving to the basket, shooting from long distance, getting to the free throw line, defending and rebounding, was scheduled to play in the State's Sophomore Showcase Friday morning.

She made 1^st Team All-Golden Valley Conference for the second year in a row in 2026 while playing in a starting lineup that featured four freshmen who also earned conference honors. Guard/forward Kady Lindstrom also made 1^st Team All-GVC. Point guard Ashley Wicks and guard/forward K'shalee Smartt-Thomas were two of the five picks for the GVC's All-Freshman Team, and guard/forward Alayja Oliver was All-GVC Honorable Mention.

The Eagles struggled against the press early in their first round playoff game in the NorCal Regionals, and their season ended in a 77-58 loss at Los Medanos late last month. But they continued their college's longstanding tradition of women's basketball success. Eagle women's teams have qualified for the California Community College State Playoffs the past five seasons in a row and 19 times in the past 21 seasons.

Current head coach Noelle Collier is five for five in taking her Eagle teams to the postseason, and she was an assistant under Tom Powers for eight years before that.

Alexes is the first Eagle women's basketball player to make All-State since Lynden Harry in 2019. Lynden was a 5-foot-5 guard who played at Siskiyous the last two of Powers' 38 years as head coach. She was GVC MVP and 3^rd Team All-State her freshman season and scored 502 points her sophomore season.

Alexes scored more than 500 points in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. She scored one fewer point as a sophomore, 504 to 505, while taking 105 fewer shots from the field, 409 to 514. As you would expect from those numbers, her shooting percentages improved, from 33.1 to 39.4 on field goals, from 29.5 to 30.6 on three-pointers, and from 60.7 to 67.6 on free throws.

Noelle Collier said Alexes' two personal goals coming into the season were to finish her Eagle career with 1,000 points and make All-State.  

In conference play this season, Alexes ranked 2^nd in scoring average (17.2), 1^st in 3-point baskets made per game (2.4), 2^nd in free throws made per game (3.8), 6th in steals (1.9), 7th in rebounds (7.1), and 5th in blocked shots (0.8).

Overall, she ranked 22nd in the state with a 17.4 scoring average, 27^th with 2.3 three-pointers per game, and 13^th with 4.0 free throws per game.

Noelle said Alexes improved her shot selection as a sophomore and better understood how opponents were defending her. "She's a film junkie with an engineering brain," Coach said. "She'll call me after watching film and want to discuss what she sees."

Yes, Alexes "shot much better" as a sophomore, but "left too many free throws on the table," according to her coach/mom.

The only other sophomore on this year's roster, 5-6 guard Rayana Atkins of Owyhee, NV, also improved. "It was such a great thing, how much she improved and played with so much more confidence," Coach Collier said. "She had 36 rebounds as a freshman. After this season ended, I asked her how many rebounds she thought she had this year. She guessed double that. It was actually 111." That's an improvement from 1.3 rebounds per game to 4.3, and her scoring average improved from 1.7 to 3.0 points per game.

Collier said she expects Rayana to return to Nevada and continue her education at University of Nevada Reno.

She also anticipates that the core group of this year's freshmen will return next year but admits, "In March, they all say they want to come back, but after they go back home things can change."

In the past, most recently with GVC MVP Dylan Neufeld from the 2024 men's basketball team, Eagles who qualified to have their jerseys hung on the Wall of Fame have been invited back to attend a game and be recognized. Noelle Collier said they may do that for Alexes next year, depending on where she ends up next. She's planning to visit Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona in late March, which Noelle believes would be a good fit for someone majoring in engineering.

"She wants to go somewhere where she can play and contribute," said Noelle. "There's a couple schools she's looking at, and a good engineering program is important."

PLAYOFF LOSS

The Eagles had split with Los Medanos in the preseason, but things did not go well right from the start in their NorCal Regionals opener at Los Medanos in late February. "They came out and hit us with a press, and we struggled with it," Coach Collier said. The Eagles already trailed 28-10 after one quarter. They closed the gap a bit to 38-26 at half time but then got outscored 24-15 in the third quarter.

"We cut it to 10 at one point, but then they banked in a three," said Collier, feeling in that moment, "So this is how it's going to be." The box score shows how much trouble the Eagles had with that pressure defense: they turned the ball over 24 times and had only 8 assists. They also made only 3 of their 21 shots from beyond the arc.

Alexes only took 8 shots from the field in the game and scored 6 of her 11 points from the free throw line. She latched onto 9 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive end, and had 2 of the Eagles' 9 steals. She made a three-pointer in the first quarter to increase her point total as an Eagle to 1,001, but it was the only three she made in the game.

Eagle freshmen had some success while experiencing postseason pressure. Alayja Oliver was 6 for 12 from the field and led the team with 14 points while pulling down 7 rebounds, 3 on the offensive end. Kady Lindstrom had a typically big night on the boards with 12 rebounds and added 5 steals and 3 assists. K'shalee Smartt-Thomas scored 11 points on 5 of 11 shooting. Ashley Wicks had 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 offensive rebounds, and 3 assists. Kaitlin Mandell had 9 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal.

Sophomore Rayana Atkins finished her Eagle career with 5 points, 2 rebounds and a steal.

Los Medanos turned it over 20 times but had 17 assists, 20 steals, and a narrow 40-37 rebounding advantage.

After beating the Eagles, Los Medanos lost its NorCal second round game at No. 2 Folsom Lake, 63-42. Folsom Lake (28-2) is one of four NorCal teams advancing to this weekend's state championships, along with No. 1 San Joaquin Delta (25-5), No. 3 Laney (25-3), and No. 4 Fresno City (23-7).

The Eagles played two of those teams in the preseason, losing to both Folsom Lake and Fresno.

By Steve Gerace