Lady Sharks Counting On Veteran Guards To Rebound This Season

The Miami Dade College women’s basketball team will lean on a group of veteran guards this year as they attempt to rebound from an eight win season. 

Point guards Rio Yamazaki, Camila Barreno and two-way guard Ahmari Young will be featured prominently in the Lady Sharks fast-paced attack.

Yamazaki was second on the team in scoring last year with 12.1 points per game. Young averaged 11.4 points and Barreno contributed 7.1 per contest.

“They are our leaders, obviously as returning sophomores,” said interim head coach Erica Redman. “So a lot of times our younger players depend on them to take control.”

This year, through five games, Young is second on the team in scoring with 9.3 points per game and Yamazaki is third with an 8.8 scoring average and a team-leading five assists per game. 

Yamazaki, who was born in Japan, is expected to set the Lady Sharks offensive tone. As a freshman, she averaged 10.3 points and five assists through nine games before breaking her left wrist. She was granted a medical redshirt. 

Last year the five-foot-one inch guard scored at least 10 points in eight games including a 26-point performance versus Hillsborough Community College in February. She also led the Lady Sharks with 5.8 assists per contest. 

“Rio is the floor general that’s going to dictate what happens on the court,” Redman said.

Young, who averaged 10.9 points as a freshman in the 2019-20 season, will be counted on to be a vocal leader and shooter. She was granted an extra year of eligibility because of the team’s COVID-shortened season last year. 

The shooting guard scored in double figures for the Lady Sharks in eight games last year but had a significant drop off in March. She only scored 10 points or more in two of the team’s last nine games. However, she exploded for a season-high 34 points in the season finale, a 95-85 win versus St. Petersburg College. 

“She always brings energy to the team,” Yamazaki said. 

Barreno, who is from Ecuador, started playing basketball at the age of five and played for her country’s national team in 2019. In 2020, Barreno traveled to Miami to play at an Amateur Athletic Union tournament with the Florida Christian School’s summer team. She impressed MDC and was offered a scholarship.   

Last season, Barreno took some time to adjust but picked up her play at the end of February. She got more playing time in March and proved she was up to the task scoring 20 points versus Indian River State College and 24 against St. Petersburg College in the last two games of the season both Lady Shark wins.  

“I love being a point guard,” Barreno said. “For me it is the best position anyone could have.”