Page 9 - Sanger Herald 12-6-18 E-edition

SangerSports
SANGER HERALD * PAGE 1B * THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018
Young soccer team works to overcome slow start
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Redwood High’s varsity girls soccer team on Nov. 27 traveled up to Tom Flores Stadium for another shot at the team it beat in the 2017 California Interscholastic Federation Central Section Division II championship game.
The No. 5 seed Apaches had defeated No. 1 San Joaquin Memorial 2-1 to face the Rangers in the finals that year, but the No. 2 Rangers claimed victory with a single goal, 1-0, on their home turf in Visalia.
Unfortunately for the Apaches, redemption would have to wait. In the rematch, Redwood’s defense dialed up and thwarted the Apaches’ sustained attacks at nearly every opportunity, and the Rangers left with another win. Final was 4-1.
Jackie Segura, who graduated this past year and now plays for Clovis Community, came to watch her former teammates. While downing a meal of Panda Express General Tso chicken over noodle, she
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Apache goal keeper Vicky Neri gets the save and an impact from a Redwood player.
defense. A lot of work.” Jovanovic said he expects the team to look much better in coming
weeks.
Reyna agreed. “We
dominated offensively,” she said of the Redwood game. She had a bag of ice around her right shin. “We have a lot to work on, but we have a lot of talent. We just need to put it to good use.”
Goalies Vicky Neri and Mia Reyes, both juniors, each played a half. Reyes pulled down about a half dozen saves in the first half, and Neri got hurt when Redwood midfielder Brianna Lopez slid into her during a scoring attempt. Neri, however, got the save.
Assistant coach Sarah Aguila said the team the night of the Redwood game “wasn’t the same” as the team playing Tulare Western. “But they’re fine,” she said. “We’ll talk to them.”
Senior defender Monica Villicana said the team shows a lot of promise. “We’re really talented,” she said. “We have a lot of young girls learning how to play with the bigger girls.
And we’ve learned a lot.” The roster includes seven sophomores and four
freshmen.
Rachel Pimentel, senior
forward, had no doubt that this version of the Apaches will proved competitive. “We still have a lot in store,” she said. “I think we could work up to be a really great team.”
Pimentel, who it should be noted was crowned Miss Sanger on Nov. 20 at Bank of the Sierra, said a lot of that has to do with team chemistry. But she said she doesn’t expect it to be a problem. Even after the loss, the athletes kept a pretty positive outlook.
And Pimentel said she’s impressed overall. “I’m really surprised how good we’re playing,” she said, considering how young the team is with so many new players having to learn the program. “We’re more organized.”
Neri said she had no doubt Sanger would improve. “We’re good,” she said. “We got it. Everybody is pushing each other to
See Soccer, Page 2B
gave a positive assessment of this version of the Apaches.
“I think they can make something happen,” she said. “There’s a spark between the mids and the forwards. They can be deadly.”
Segura did offer some thoughts at halftime when the Rangers led by a pair of goals, both scored by junior
Marisa Perez. “Right now, we should take more shots,” she said. “Their keeper’s not good by herself. She needs her defense. If it’s one on one, we’ll score.”
Redwood’s captain, senior Jill Nelson, and other defenders didn’t give Apache senior Audrey Reyna, freshman Diana Garcia and junior Jasmine Guardado much
of an opening, descending around them as they closed in on the Ranger goal.
Mihailo Jovanovic, co-head coach with Sarah Bartley, said the team is young and that the Redwood game was just its second. The Apaches beat Tulare Western 2-1 on Nov. 13.
“Solid team,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work on
Girls basketball looks to make a mark
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Coming into the first night of the Selma High girls basketball tournament Nov. 28, the Apaches had won a game and lost a game.
The loss came the previous night, and at one point Sanger, which has a very young but talented team, found itself down by 20 points. David Campbell, their head coach, said their response gave an indication of what kind of team they are.
“We could have laid down, and they could have beat us by 30 points,” he said. “But we kept clawing back. We made them work for it.”
Final score against Hoover that previous night was 48-44. Sanger lost but scored 22 points to the Patriots’ 11 in the fourth quarter.
The game against Hanford West that night in Selma was the third in a six-game, six-night run by the Apaches. “Trial by fire,” Campbell said.
But something happened on the court that night. Sanger caught fire.
Senior Annie Lopez started it all off by scoring a three-pointer. And from that moment, the Apaches remained in the the lead, dominating the Huskies like veterans and not a team with a number of freshmen and sophomores and former junior varsity players. They played like Selma High School’s gym with its big murals of Bears everywhere held a playoff game and they were on the way to the Valley championship.
Lopez finished with five points before getting injured early in the second quarter. But her teammates stepped up. Sophomore and second year player Taylor Roth led the Apaches with 16 points, including four from behind the three-point arc. And senior Alyssa Hansen added 12 points and
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Alyssa Hansen, above, drives to the basket in the Apaches' win against Hanford West. Sanger has won some and lost some in the preseason but has big plans this year.
Before the game, Roth and Lopez talked about the team. The roster this season has a lot of new names, two of them freshmen and a number moved up from junior varsity.
“I think we’re pretty good,” Roth said. “We just need to play more as a team.”
“We need way more chemistry,” Lopez said.
“Half our team is new,” Roth said.
But both said they liked their teammates and attested to their talent.
Then the game happened.
“The Lady Apaches came out raining shots to run away from Hanford West,” wrote Ron Blackwood, Sanger master statistician, in his game notes. He and spotter Ruben Bravo liked what they saw that night. Final score was 64-32.
Junior Cu-Nisha Mitchell had four steals and six points.
“We needed a game like that,” Campbell said after the game. “We had energy from the start. We’d been lacking that.”
And there’s no guarantee the Apaches will continue that momentum. The regular season doesn’t start until the first of the year. But the games the team played to start the season offer an indication of how Sanger will do in the County Metro Athletic Conference Division III.
Lopez felt better after the game. At halftime, teammate Ana Delfin, a junior from JV, carried her to the locker room, piggyback.
Elise LeBeau, a freshman who didn’t play much like a freshman, pulling down four rebounds, said she likes her new team. “They’re fun to play with and they’re hard-working,” she said. “We’re actually really close. We have each other’s backs.”
Kelly Anderson, a junior now in her third year on varsity, said before the game that the transition
incorporating all the new team members could be rough. “But for the most part, we’ve played together for awhile,” she said. “The pre-season will be a learning curve, learning how to work together on the court, getting chemistry and transitioning to varsity basketball.”
Mitchell said she’s more interested in being a team player and helping her team have a successful season than any individual glory. But she is interested in making a mark, a positive one.
“We look forward to some very interesting games,” she said. “It will take time to get used to each other (and playing styles). But once we learn all that, chemistry will be really good.
“We have a lot of heart and a lot of hustlers.”
Campbell agreed. Although he did say that the team is younger than last year. “We have a pretty good character group,” he said. “Not that we haven’t had that in the past. But that’s going to stand out about us.”
The other freshman on the team is Mallory Scott, who pulled down seven rebounds and scored five points. She didn’t let the size of the opposing team bother her in the slightest.
Lopez said that this season she’s focused on perfecting her play as shooting guard. “I’ve been driving more, attacking the basket,” she said. “Last year, I didn’t know when exactly to shoot. This year I do.” And she said she’s really interested in breaking the single game three-point record. She needs eight. Roth also has her eye on the record.
Monday, Lopez hit five against Sierra, scoring 29 points in a 62-57 loss.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerheraldsports@gmail. com or 559-825-2511.
picked up 10 rebounds. Hansen, still hyped up after the game, said she’s poised to have her best
season ever. This is her second year on the varsity squad. “We’re planning to hit Valley this season,”
she said. And she said she believed in her teammates. “I love them. They’re my sisters.”