The 2014-2015 girls basketball season for San Pedro Prep Sports marked an amazing turnaround year as San Pedro, Mary Star and Port Of Los Angeles all made their respective playoffs.

Two players in particular, shined brightest the most in help creating those turnarounds for their schools.

San Pedro senior guard Rita Fiorenza would once again raise her game to new heights in a variety of ways, and in turn, so did the rest of the Lady Pirates as they made it to the CIF Southern California Regionals in Division II for the first time since the 1986 team that won the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division 3A title, while reaching the CIF-LACS Division II semifinals, and beating Huntington Park, 51-38 in a State playoff play-in game on March 3.

Not only that, Fiorenza, who led the Pirates in scoring, assists and steals for the second straight season, helped transform San Pedro from a 1-20 season in 2011, the year before Fiorenza came to San Pedro, to their first 20-win season in school history at 21-12 overall as her high school career drew to a close.

Meanwhile, Mary Star sophomore guard Angela Pisano got her year started off with a bang by scoring 42 points in the season-opener at Downey Calvary Chapel on November 25, 2014, but she kept that style of play rolling as her speed, defense and uncanny shooting stroke sparked her to six 30-point games.

However, Pisano is more excited about the team accomplishments, as she helped pace the Stars to killing off their 39-game league losing streak on January 13 against Bell-Jeff of Burbank, reaching the CIF-Southern Section playoffs for the first time since 2009, and also guiding the Stars to their first playoff victory on February 19, when they won 43-36 at Valley Christian Academy of Santa Maria.

For those reasons and then some, Fiorenza and Pisano both share the nod as 2015 News Pilot Girls Basketball Co-Players Of The Year.

It's Fiorenza's third MVP honor for the Pilot, following up both her freshman (2012) and junior (2014) season.

"I think this year was my best year," Fiorenza says. "I've improved something about my game each year and I will miss all the fun memories my teammates and I have made over the years, especially playing in front of all my schoolmates and friends at home."

Pisano, who averaged 23.4 points a game, is the first from Mary Star to achieve this honor, and the second Angela, considering former POLA star Angela Wade claimed this honor in 2013. "I'm very honored," Pisano says. "I'm glad that my hard work is paying off and I'm thankful for my teammates, family and supporters. It was a great season and I'm looking forward to see what the future has in store."

Mary Star finished 14-9 overall this season, going 5-5 in the Santa Fe League, placing fourth. POLA, paced by exciting sophomore point guard Kyerstin Galloway, went 12-7 this year, but finished second in the Crosstown League at 9-3 which was the best league record of the three schools. San Pedro went 8-4 in the Marine League, placing third.

Here is the full All-San Pedro News Pilot Girls Basketball Team for 2015...

FIRST TEAM
Deanna Valverde (San Pedro, soph.)
Kyerstin Galloway (POLA, soph.)
Reyna Canchola (San Pedro, jr.)
Melannie Ortiz (San Pedro, jr.)
Marina Vitalich (Mary Star, sr.)

SECOND TEAM
Amanda Vitalich (Mary Star, soph.)
Mariam Moreno (POLA, soph.)
Hanalei Emnace (Mary Star, fr.)
Iman Garba (San Pedro, soph.)
Kaela Razevich (POLA, sr.)

CO-PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Rita Fiorenza (San Pedro, sr.)
Angela Pisano (Mary Star, soph.)

(Note: Rita Fiorenza photo by Debbie Ferguson; Angela Pisano photo by Nancy Geiger)