Youth Girls Basketball: Titan club team ranked No. 2 in Southern California

A fifth-grade girls basketball team in the area was recently ranked No. 2 in Southern California by the Girls Basketball Federation.

The Titan Girls Basketball club’s fifth-grade team, which consists of players from the Rancho Bernardo, Poway, 4S Ranch, Scripps Ranch and Oceanside areas, earned the high regards after winning the Back 2 School Shootout tournament in the Los Angeles area at the end of last month.

“That was a big one,” said Daryl Ravani, who coaches three of the five teams that make up the Titan Girls Basketball club, including the fifth-grade squad. “We win about 85 to 90-percent of our games and we play year around.”

So how did the kids respond to the ranking?

“They smiled,” Ravani said. “They know we won a tournament and they also know that we have a lot of work to do. We did not make too big a deal about it. The parents were probably more excited than the kids.”

Katrina Bolger of Poway is the starting point guard for the team and one of the top scorers. Wing Simran Randhawa from 4S Ranch has a great outside shot and is also one of top scorers.

“Katrina is always one of the tiniest girls out there, but she is feisty and when we need to break a press we just give her the ball,” Ravani said.

Ravani, 64, coached high school basketball for 22 years before making the move to club. He has enjoyed every second of it in Poway.

“The kids make it fun,” he said. “I coach all three of my teams at the same time so we have 24 kids at practice. It is such a zoo, but it is fun. I have 48 eyes looking at me and they listen to me and trust me. It is such a blast.”

The fifth-grade team plays in the SOL league in the fall and plays about seven tournaments over the summer.

The team has a short break from tournament play, as its next one will not be until February.