Photo Gallery: 2008-09 HS GameTime year-end honorees

Layshia Clarendon repeatedly stepped to the free throw line, battered and bruised and winded from a night of hounding by Long Beach Poly.

She'd bend at the waist, catching her breath, as opposing fans and media members rolled their eyes. Many assumed the Cajon basketball standout was exaggerating things with her unofficial timeouts, but Cowgirls coach Mark Lehman knew better.

"That game was a war," Lehman said. "Long Beach Poly's goal was to send fresh guards at her and hit and push and shove and foul her hard and see how long she could last. That kind of abuse would wear down most players, but she never gave up or showed any attitude. She just kept plugging away."

Clarendon scored 28 points to lead Cajon to its second consecutive section title, 52-44, snapping Poly's string of 28 consecutive postseason victories. Then she leaped into the arms of her father, an assistant coach.

"I'm on cloud nine," she said.

For her season-long excellence and for leading the Cowgirls to the section title, Clarendon is the HS GameTime girls athlete of the year.

It's the last in a long list of prep plaudits for Clarendon, who averaged 20 points, eight assists and eight rebounds and was named CIF-Southern Section Player of the Year as well as California's Ms. Basketball, as determined by CalHiSports.com.

"The thing that stands out the most is she had pressure to take us to places we had never been," Lehman said. "She stepped up in the big games against the top-flight competition. In other games she sacrificed her personal point total to make sure everyone else got theirs."

Clarendon seems to thrive on the competition, like what she is facing now in trying to make the USA Basketball Under-19 team, as well as what she will meet next season in the Pac-10 as a freshman at Cal.

"The last couple of years have been pretty awesome," Clarendon said. "It's been a good experience. The level of competition junior and senior year was really great. I think playing on a better travel ball team prepared me for it."

The Cajon team has moved on and is still excelling -- last weekend the Cowgirls made the semifinals of the Watts Summer Games at Southwestern College, even without Clarendon.

"I wish girls like her would come along every year," Lehman said. "I tell the kids what they need to do. They were lucky to see her not only in games, but in practice every day."

Reach John Murphy at jomurphy@PE.com

STORY: Boys athlete of the year