By Araceli Galarza Posted December 20, 2019
Another year, another season, this year’s varsity coach, Melanie Thurmond, has been implementing new techniques to prepare the new girls on varsity and to further the skills of returning members.
Macy DeLong, a new varsity player, shares her feelings about the new season and the changes from JV to varsity.
“It’s overwhelming, but it’s a good experience,” said Macy Delong. “Varsity is a big change from JV. It is a lot more intense and a lot more learning to it. Everyone is working better and harder together so we can win our games. We are all about winning our games so we can make it to zone and state.
Along with JV players moving up, multiple sophomores made the leap from freshman basketball to varsity, which would be a difficult feat for anyone. Emika Viscarra, a sophomore player, explains the jump form freshman team to the varsity and the difficult challenges and experiences that come with.
“It’s a big change. Freshman practices were easy and fun,” said Emika Viscarra. “Now, since I’m on varsity, I have to take stuff more seriously, but also have fun. We just have more challenging drills, and I still have a lot to learn since it’s my first year on varsity and second year playing high school basketball.”
Carly Capellen, one of the two returning seniors from last year, explained what differences she’s noticed on the team.
“We have a lot more height this year, and we are a younger team compared to most. We are all playing with new people, and it will create a lot of new opportunities,” explained Capellen.
On December 6, the varsity girls traveled to Reno for their first games of the season. On Friday night, they played against Galena and brought home a win, 52-33. On Saturday, they played Bishop Manogue and lost 62-43. However, they finished strong and triumphed over Spanish Springs 59-22.
During the Bishop Manogue game on Friday, McKenzie Peterson, a sophomore on the team, was named player of the game by the coaches.
“McKenzie was our leading scorer and helped give us a ‘big” presence on the inside,” said coach Thurmond.
Capellen stated the girls are working hard to prepare for the upcoming games.
“We are scouting other teams and seeing what offense and defense they run so we can be ready for anything that happens in the game,” said Capellen.
