The Dublin High School Varsity Girls Basketball team accomplished a feat rarely seen in high school athletics among public schools by posting its 19th consecutive winning record last Thursday in a 49-30 home victory over Dougherty Valley.
The Varsity Girls began its current streak before any of the current players were even born (2003-2004 season), and has made it into the North Coast Section playoffs every season with the exception of last year’s pandemic shortened season in which it still would have qualified with a winning mark (5-4). Dublin needed the victory to continue the unprecedented string of success to complete the regular season with a record of 11-9 overall heading into this week’s EBAL Tournament. In addition to holding the ongoing school record for consecutive winning season, the program also boasts the most NCS appearances and total victories of any team on campus, and is tied with Boys Cross Country and Boys Golf for the most league titles (6).
Last week also saw the attainment of individual milestones within the program, as Head Coach Mark Wainwright earned his 400th career coaching victory in a 39-26 win over Foothill on January 29th. While some of those career wins came as the Varsity Boys Coach at St. Elizabeth’s and Encinal, the vast majority of those took place at Dublin High. Wainwright was a successful Boys Coach at DHS from 1996-2003 before pivoting to the Girls program in 2004. During two separate stints (2004-2013 and 2019-present), Wainwright was at the helm for 13 of the team’s current 19 winning seasons, with the others coming under Tim Sbranti (2004), Trisha Campbell (2014-2015), Hans De Lanoy (2016-2017), and Kareem Summerville (2018-2019).
In Thursday’s victory over the Wildcats, it was Dublin’s defense which once again proved to be the decisive factor, as they have held their opponents to 30 or fewer points in 9 of the team’s 11 victories. Rachel Grier had several blocks and was a dominant force inside, while there was a very balanced scoring attack led by Karina Virk, Sofia Lembo, and Sophia Ignacio who each finished with 9 points. The game was close at halftime with the Gaels clinging to a 21-17 edge before outscoring Dougherty Valley 15-4 in the 3rd quarter to put the game out of reach.
