Rangers Girls basketball seeks improvement against Monache

By: Tyler Stark

Photos courtesy of Abagail Miller and Aiden Hatch

Redwood Girls Basketball comes into tonight’s matchup against Monache looking to rebound from the mixed results they had in last weekend’s tournament. The team won one of the three games they competed in. They opened up the tournament with a 45-36 loss to Bullard, then won a razor-close 36-34 game against Strathmore, and ended the tournament with a 62-26 loss to Clovis East.

Despite the mixed results from the tournament, coach Gary Hylton took some positives away from it. Hylton says, “The tournament was going to be a test for the team on how well we could come together and not just play but compete for 3 days. I am happy with the amount of hustle this team had. The girls played through till the end.”

Hylton goes on to say that the key for tonight will be playing their game, and playing with patience.

One of the aspects that really hurt the Rangers last weekend was the fact that team captain and starting shooting guard Isabella Valero ‘22 was out due to injury during the final day of the tournament. Valero says it was not easy not being on the court, but she’s ready for tonight’s matchup. “I had to sit out for Saturday’s game which made me frustrated but I knew my team would still play hard no matter what. I love competing with my team, so for me to sit out Saturday, it was hard not being able to play against a really competitive school, but I know me and my team will work hard to get the win tonight against Monache.”

Whenever a team is without a starting guard, that’s pretty much a guarantee that things are going to be tough. Valero is one of the leaders of the offense, and a very essential part of the team. Fans should expect to have a big impact on the team tonight.

While the whole tournament was not a complete disaster, there are definitely some things the team needs to work on. Power forward Kiersten Moshier ‘22 feels that coming into tonight’s matchup, her team needs to get better at communicating with each other.

“We need to get better at communicating with each other both on the court and on the bench.” Moshier goes on to say that it’s going to be important the team needs to play at a good tempo, and dictate the pace of the game if they want to win.

Coming into this game, center Senika Murillo ‘22 believes the mindset her team is in is key to winning the game. “I think we all need to go out with high energy and a great mindset. I believe we can win as long as we play hard and don’t give up.”

Tyler Stark

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Tyler Stark ('24) is in his freshmen year, and this is his first year writing for the Redwood Gigantea. Tyler hopes to work for Sports Illustrated in the future. you can contact him by email with: tyler.st3800@vusd.us