by Patrick J. Kennedy
Former Los Alamitos High girls basketball standout center Kassidy Beach has been selected to the Orange Empire Conference First Team and the All-State Third Team following her impressive sophomore season at Saddleback College.
Beach also recently signed a scholarship to play at NCAA D-II Cal State Dominguez Hills where she will enter as a junior and play both forward and center while majoring in Business.
At Saddleback, the 6’1” Beach played in all 31 games and led the community college team in scoring with an average of 14.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. During 12 games of OEC play, Beach averaged 15.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
She scored a career-high 32 points on January 30, in a victory over Fullerton in which she made 12 out of 21 shots, was a perfect 8 for 8 from the free throw line, and also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Beach helped lead Saddleback (22-9) to its best season in years, as the team finished tied for second in the OEC and for the first time in 9 years made the playoffs. After winning two playoff games, the Bobcats made it to the regional finals for the first time in 23 years, where they lost 67-51 to Mt. San Antonio. In that game, Beach had 12 points, on 6 out of 13 shooting, 11 rebounds, and two blocked shots.
Beach said that she recently had an opportunity to scrimmage with her future Dominguez Hills teammates and likes what she sees.
“They can hoop,” she said. “And I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together. I’m very excited to be at Dominguez.”
As a high school senior at Los Alamitos in 2024, Beach was selected, along with teammate Kayli Liew, as the Surf League co-MVP. For the season, she averaged 12 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and helped lead the Griffins to a 24-6 season and a Surf League championship.
Coming out of high school, Beach initially attended Westcliff University. She played in 18 games at the NAIA school and was honored as “Cal Pac Newcomer of the Year” after averaging 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 points in conference games. Following that season, she transferred to Saddleback College.
Her former coach at Los Alamitos, Maya De Anda, said she is not surprised by Beach’s success at the college level.
“Kassidy works hard, and she improved every year at Los Alamitos,” De Anda said. “I knew she would do well in college, and I’m very happy for her.”