There were other seniors in the North Coast Section that were major contributors on teams that were in higher divisions in both the NCS and CIF Northern Regional playoffs, or went further in the playoffs, and there were a couple of seniors in the section that had a slightly higher scoring average than Tameiya Sadler.

In the end, after leading St. Patrick-St. Vincent to an NCS Division IV runner-up finish and a spot in the CIF Northern Regional Division III quarterfinals, the Washington-bound 5-8 point guard and the highest recruit from the class of 2020 in all of Northern California has been named the Prep2Prep North Coast Section Senior of the Year.

“Thank you, thank you,” Sadler said after being told she was being honored. “It's truly a blessing and a great feeling to know that all the hard work I have put in is paying off and nothing is going unnoticed.”

Although St. Patrick-St. Vincent finished third in the Tri-County Athletic League–Rock Division with a 6-4 record and 22-12 record overall, Sadler wasn’t exactly overlooked after being named the league MVP as well as second team on both the San Francisco Chronicle all-Metro and Bay Area News Group all-Bay Area squads.

Along the way she was the No. 7 reported scorer in the NCS at 18.4 points per game, and despite being a point guard her 8.8 rebounds per game was near the top of the NCS for her position, plus her 4.0 assists and 5.7 steals a game were near the top of the list for any position. Sadler even had 2.1 blocks per game and that was an NCS top 10 reported mark.

St. Patrick-St. Vincent did have two other girls average over 5.0 points per game but every opponent keyed on Sadler with Bruins Coach Nadine Walker saying in some games everyone collapsed on Tameiya.

“Her athleticism and ability to attack the basket was already a problem for teams,” Walker remarked. “There were games where we would watch film and she would draw all five players on her drive. Also she loved an assist or a block more than a bucket.”

For Sadler’s four-year varsity career as a Bruin, Tameiya finished with some pretty formidable numbers. Her 1,689 points, 968 rebounds, 703 assists, 652 steal and 201 blocks translates to per game averages of 14.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 5.6 steals and 1.7 blocks per game, respectively.

“Her junior year Tameiya didn't have to score as much, but she knew and we knew her scoring would have to step up,” Walker said. “Even though her point-per-game average only increased by one point because when we could sit and rest her we did, her junior year she only had 10 games with 20-plus points, while her senior year she had 13 games where she had 20-plus points.”

One of those 20-plus games came at the West Coast Jamboree in a 62-58 overtime victory over Redwood-Larkspur when Sadler went for a career-high 38 points with 14 rebounds, six steals and two assists.

St. Patrick-St. Vincent lost both league matchups as well as one in the league playoffs to Salesian, but Sadler went for 26 points and 13 rebounds with three assists and three steals, 22 points and 12 rebounds with three steals, and 25 points, six rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals.

Sadler didn’t score a lot of points in the Bruins 46-40 TCAL Rock playoff semifinal win, and the only victory in four tries against rival St. Mary’s-Berkeley, but her seven points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals, were a big part of the win.

Even in an NCS D4 title game 60-49 loss to St. Mary’s, Sadler had most of the offense and defense after going for a double-double 29 points and 11 rebounds with four assists and three steals. Tameiya followed that game up with 24 points and eight rebounds with four assists and two steals in a NorCal D3 opening round 62-44 victory over Aragon-San Mateo.

Of her 12 double-doubles on the season 10 were points and rebounds. Her high-water rebounding mark was 20 with 27 points, seven steals, four assists and three blocks in a 60-45 victory on the road at Heritage Christian-Northridge. The other two double-doubles involved steals. Sadler had 22 points and 11 steals with eight rebounds in a loss to defending CIF Division IV state champion and this year’s NorCal Division III champion Oakland Tech, and a near quadruple-double 20 points and 12 steals with nine assists and eight rebounds in a win over Rodriguez-Fairfield.

Despite the numbers and the accolades when asked what was the best part of the season for Sadler it wasn’t about that.

“I would say the best part of the season was the friendships and the memories that I’ve with my teammates, and just seeing my growth,” Tameiya responded.

With that kind of response the obvious next question was what kind of teammate was Sadler? Walker saw it clearly and concisely.

“Complicated, compassionate, competitive,” Walker answered.

Tameiya expanded on that a bit more.

“I think I was a supportive teammate and I definitely tried to mentor the younger players and show them that good things do come out of hard work,” Sadler said. “I tried to push everyone to reach their full potential.”

How does Walker see the leadership skills of Sadler?

“Tameiya has leadership skills and I think she was different with each teammate,” Walker said. “Tough on those that needed that tough love, and more understanding with younger players, but always let it be known her competitive nature was going to push her to drive her team to compete and go hard.”

Sadler obviously has enough assets to warrant a major D1 scholarship, but even a player going Pac-12 has areas for improvement, and for Tameiya one of those is shooting from the outside.

Last year she made 17 three-pointers but that was over half of the 32 shots she’s made from outside the arc in four years. Part of her reluctance to launch is few defenses can stop Sadler from driving to the basket, but while that worked in high school, defenses of major D1 schools have players that can effectively defend a slasher.

“Taking her pull up mid-range jumper and shooting the three,” Walker remarked. “She totally can with good mechanics and technique, she's just not used to doing it.”

“I think I need to improve on my shot and being more vocal on the court,” Sadler said. “At the next level, I can’t just go to the basket all the time, I need to be a threat from anywhere on the court, and doing so would definitely expand my game. Being more vocal is another thing since I am a point guard my team will look at me for a lot of things so I definitely have to be more vocal.”

Walker had already said the athleticism and ability to attack the basket were Sadler’s best assets. How does Sadler feel?

“I would say my best attributes are I am a very hardworking, outgoing, and determined person and player. I try to have the Mamba mentality in every situation and play like any game could be my last,” she said.

The next stop is Seattle and why did Sadler decide to become one of the Huskies and how does she feel she will fit in at Washington?

“I chose Washington because I loved Jody (head coach Jody Wynn), and how close she was with all of her players,” said Sadler, who currently carries a 3.4 GPA with sports medicine as a favorite subject. “It’s a very family-oriented program and that’s what impacted my decision the most. I see the team as my older sisters and I feel I’ll fit in well with the program.”

Walker added the following: “Tameiya will fit right in at the next level. She will be surrounded by other athletic and talented players, and the best make the best better. She will be working with great coaches and players in daily practices at UW and then competing against some of the most talented college players in the Pac-12.”

Walker had some final observations about her senior star.

“Her senior season had challenges with new teammates with less varsity-level experience, injuries, etc. that required her to play more and do more than what we originally envisioned at the beginning of the year,” said Walker. “That was tough on her physically and mentally and I think she did a great job and we don't have the success we had this year without her. She was the TCAL-Rock Division MVP, we made it back to the league championship game, we made it back to the NCS D4 section championship game, we went to the second round in NorCals, and had back to back 20-plus wins seasons.”

“On a personal note, I will always talk about her growth as a player and as a person,” continued Walker. “Four years ago, she was quiet, shy, closed off and now she is confident and open to new experiences and possibilities.”

Right now, with everyone stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sadler can’t do any live practices but that doesn’t mean she isn’t staying in shape. Washington, like every major college program has workout protocols in place the players are expected to adhere to as if they were already on campus.

“Washington does have us under a workout protocol,” Sadler said. “So I’ve been doing a lot of the exercises they sent and sometimes I add in some other stuff because of the recent circumstances of the lockdown.”

Just like everyone in California right now, Tameiya is stuck at home but she is still thinking about the future.

“I’m looking forward to playing against some of the best players in the country and changing the program,” remarked Sadler. I want be able to break records and compete for titles and really have an impact on the game of basketball.”

With Kelsey Plum holding all those Huskies records with some national level record as a well, Sadler will have her work cut out, but of course anything is possible if you visualize it first like she has done.

For now she’s just going to have to bask in the glory of being named of her prestigious NCS honor.

Congratulations to Tameiya Sadler on her selection as the Prep2Prep North Coast Section Senior of the Year.

Others considered include St. Joseph Notre Dame's Malia Mastora and Heritag's Abigail Muse.

NOTE: We would like to thank our media partners, coaches, parents, players and fans for contributing photos for our all-section features. We salute all of the players that have made this a wonderful season of NCS basketball.