ALHAMBRA — Former Alhambra High School standout Paige Hashimoto-Lizardo was inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame in an Oct. 23 ceremony at Almansor Court in Alhambra.
In front of her mother Sande Hashimoto, brother Guy, husband Eric Lizardo and kids Marissa and Reece, she was honored along with 10 other outstanding AHS athletics,
two teams championship teams, and three noted AHS alumni.
Hashimoto-Lizardo began her basketball career in 1982, playing for the Wanjettes Imperial of the Southern California Women’s Athletic Union.
She even made the 7th/8th-grade boys basketball team at Marguerita Elementary School, but chose not to play.
Hashimoto-Lizardo was an accomplished four-year varsity player at Alhambra High School from 1984 through 1988. As a sophomore, she earned Second Team All-CIF honors and was First Team All-CIF her junior and senior years.
In the summer of 1987, she represented the Amateur Sports Development USA International High School basketball team in China and Hong Kong.
After high school, with the exception of playing for a team in Chinatown for a few years, her basketball playing days were put on hold. She attended Cal Poly Pomona, majoring in animal science, and later Tuskegee University of Veterinary Medicine.
Hashimoto-Lizardo began her career as veterinarian in Orange County, married her veterinary school sweetheart, Eric Lizardo, and had her first child, Marissa, in 2002.
Bill Yee, one of Hashimoto-Lizardo’s middle school teachers, was on hand for the induction at Almansor Court in Alhambra.
She returned to the hardwood courts in 2004, playing in a women’s 30-and-over league. She finally took off her basketball shoes in 2019 before a serious injury, but now coaches her son, Reece, and his OCO Panthers team.
In her acceptance speech at the Alhambra ceremony, she thanked her coaches through the years, but paid a special tribute to her dad, Harri Hashimoto, who was my “toughest, biggest, and best coach.”
– Submitted by Bill Yee