TULARE COUNTY – This past season, the balance of power in the East Sequoia-Redwood League took a major shift towards a team that erased nearly 87 years of basketball obscurity. For the Orosi Cardinals, the rewards for a championship season included multiple ESR All-League First and Second Team Honors and individual awards.
The Cardinals (26-8/7-1) finished the 2025-26 season with a share of the ESR with Summit Charter Collegiate Academy (SCCA). As a result, the Cardinals and the Bears finished with a combined seven players on the league’s First and Second Teams.
It truly took an Orosi basketball village to produce arguably the most memorable season in recent Cardinals’ school history. One player who defined the toughness and never quit mentality is senior co-captain Ramiro Garcia. Garcia’s combo play up front and in the backcourt was stellar enough to be awarded First Team Honors.
Garcia finished the season with double figure averages in points (12.3) and rebounds (10.2) per game. According to stats in MaxPreps, Garcia ranked in the ESR’s top five in both categories; and he also demonstrated a keen passing touch, ranking second in the ESR in assists per game (4.5).
Garcia’s teammates, Kevin Palacios and Kaelob Chavez were recognized with Second Team Honors. Palacios, another team captain, provided balanced play as a facilitator and a sharp shooter. He finished this season third on the team in assists (62), and from beyond the arc, he drained approximately 28% of his three-point attempts, according to numbers in MaxPreps.
Chavez was also on fire from behind the arc, sinking 25 three-point shots, good for a top-10 finish in the ESR.
Orosi’s ability to score with the ball, and clamp down on defenders, was due in large part to senior guard Michael Corrales and junior center James Beltran. Corrales and Beltran were both named as the ESR’s Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.
Corrales averaged 15.8 points per game this season, 4.1 rebounds per game and 2.1 steals per game, according to stats in MaxPreps. And his 91 three-pointers made were tops in the ESR. Beltran, who averaged 10.5 rebounds per game, and 1.7 blocks per game, was a beast up front for Orosi all season.
Cardinals’ head coach Jeremy Gomez was deservedly named as the ESR’s Coach of the Year. In addition to leading Orosi to a share of the ESR with SCCA, Gomez guided his team to the Central Section D VI Title over the Bears in an emphatic 57-42 victory.
Whether scoring or playing defense, SCCA’s Shawn Smith was a certified playmaker in the 2025-26 season. Smith’s play was great enough to be voted as the ESR’s Most Valuable Player. According to numbers in MaxPreps, Smith led SCCA with 455 points, 110 assists and 123 steals.
Smith’s teammates, Hayden Miller and Fernando Valera round out the First Team Honors with Orange Cove’s Alonzo Garcia and Wonderful College Prep Academy’s (WCPA) Jose Morales.
On the Second Team, SCCA’s Mason Maddox and Caleb Emerson join WCPA’s Joshua Acevedo and Daniel Lopez. Orange Cove’s Luis Madrid completes the list.
