Girls basketball: Marin Catholic, Korst part ways after championship season

Just weeks after capturing the state crown in her first season as girls basketball head coach with the Wildcats, Kayden Korst and Marin Catholic are parting ways.

Korst wrote in a statement, “The school gave me the opportunity to start my coaching career in the best possible environment, with the most amazing girls and parents. I’ll be forever grateful for that. Ultimately, discussions with the administration around team management made it the best decision that I move on to the next opportunity. I can’t thank the Marin Catholic community, especially each one of the incredible athletes on the team, enough for what we accomplished together. I am excited to see what they do in the future!”

Marin Catholic president Tim Navone released a statement: ““We regret to announce that Coach Korst will no longer be coaching Women’s Basketball at Marin Catholic. As this is a personnel matter, we will not be sharing details of our internal discussions. However, we want to be clear that this was a professional decision, and not the result of any scandal or unlawful conduct. We are sincerely grateful for Coach Korst’s leadership during our team’s State Championship season, and we wish her continued success in her coaching career.”

After Ashley Saia’s retirement following the 2023-24 season, Marin Catholic tabbed Korst, a local talent who is the all-time leading scorer at San Domenico with more than 2,000 points. Korst played at Cal State San Marcos and has spent six years as a coach with the Nike Basketball Camps in Marin County.

It was a tall order to fill the void left by Saia, who coached the Wildcats to the CIF NorCal playoffs every year from 2017-24, except the 2020-21 pandemic season when the tournament was cancelled.

The Wildcats, with Korst on the bench assisted by Dan Lucia and Rick DeMartini, won the first two games of the season, a promising start for the young coach and her program. The Wildcats placed second in the MCAL. But after a 45-27 loss to rival Redwood in the MCAL tournament final, Marin Catholic won the next six games and captured the North Coast Section Division II title and the Northern California Regional D-III championship with a pair of dramatic victories over Justin-Siena.

“Coaching has never just been a job to me,” Korst said. “It is my calling. It means mentoring young people, building trust, and helping student-athletes grow into confident, responsible adults. We had a season filled with success, resilience, and team unity.”

Marin Catholic (26-11, 8-2 MCAL) beat Mater Dei Catholic, 48-38, with an inspired effort in Sacramento for the second CIF State girls basketball championship in school history. Korst, 23, was just 6 months old the last time the Wildcats won the title.

“I am proud of what our team accomplished this year,” Korst said. “We won a state championship. We built a culture of respect and accountability. I look forward to continuing my work in education and athletics, and I am confident this experience will make me a stronger and more thoughtful leader moving forward.”