Redwood Wraps Up the Winter Season

By: Brandon Teela

Redwood high school has been outstanding this winter season winning 3 WYL championships. Each and every team had a great season in which they worked hard and played together.

Girls soccer had an amazing season in which they took WYL outright with a dominant 10-0. The girls only allowed 4 goals in WYL while scoring more than 40. The defense and offensive dominance displayed by the Lady Ranger squad was not just impressive, it was special.

The girls entered division 1 playoffs as the 6 overall seed and defeated Arroyo Grande (11) 3-2 in a hard fought home game. They moved onto the next round of the playoffs playing an away game at Clovis High. They fought hard but ended up falling short 2-0 in Clovis. The end to a historic season for the Ranger girls.

Kelsey Konishi, ‘21, says that she learned what being a team really means and how they win, “It’s not always who is more skilled, but whoever wants it more.” She says she will miss her 10 seniors that graduate this summer. Konishi explains that they had a special bond with all of them. She appreciates everything they did for her since freshman year.

Boys soccer saw a roller coaster of a game this season. After starting league off more than rough at 1-3, they went on a 6 game unbeaten streak finishing at a respectable 6-3-1. With their strong finish the boys soccer team got to see at least one game at home in which they played Edison. They fought hard and went through ups and downs all season, but ultimately fell to Edison 2-1 at home.

Christian Roldan, ’21, explains that he views this season as a growing season, “We lost the majority of our starters last season and we came into this season with a one game at a time mindset.” He says they did start off rocky but once they figured it out, on and off the field.

“The relationships we built together off the field transferred onto the field.”

Christian Roldan on his relationships with his teammates.

Nolan Pritchett, ’21, added that he had a really fun season, “I’m going to miss winning those big games.” Nolan said that he and Pancho would y’all to each other on the sidelines, “It was fun, i’m gonna miss it.”

Boys basketball has seen many, many ups and downs through their season as well. Starting off their year 1-3, they fought their way to 8-5 heading into league behind senior play of Malachi Aguilar, ’20, and Nick Trevino, ’20. They hit league and hit a rough patch losing 5 straight. Now 0-3 in league they needed to win, and once again behind major senior play now in addition to huge play from senior Connor Gilcrest.

Assistant Coach Gary says that this season has been all about patience, “Without patience we wouldn’t be here right now.” He explains how it took the players believing in themselves and in the program, “once they understood how to and what it took to win, it changed our whole atmosphere.”

“Our culture has changed drastically, we really want to win.”

Coach Gary on how the Boys Basketball team turned their season around

The Ranger basketball team head into playoffs with a WYL title share and on a 10 game win streak. They defeated (8) Monache 67-64, defeated (1) seeded Roosevelt, and then defeated (4) seeded San Luis Obispo and play in the Central Section Division II championship game against (2) Independence on the 29th of February.

The Lady Ranger basketball team has a similar story. The girls also started off with a 0-3 record in league and also saw a turn around. They ended up winning 6/7 games remaining on their schedule and made playoffs with a solid record.

Junior forward Natalie Robles, ’21, said that the girls learned how to slow down and look see the court. She goes on to say that for this team to win, their chemistry is “crucial” and is usually the deciding factor of the games they play.

The Rangers take on a rough path in the playoffs as a 12 seed but they are looking up. They face off against (5) seeded Selma in the first round of Divison 2 playoffs on the 18th of February.

Girls Wrestling has seen another successful season as they clinched WYL outright for the third straight year. Lynice Luna, ‘21, says that they all worked very hard for league. Luna explains that “[she] is just so grateful and happy to be apart of such an achievement.” She goes onto explain that the whole team learned that when times were tough they just needed to push through.

“We came together not only as teammates but as a family.”

Lynice reflecting on the season

The lady wrestlers now take on valley. There are 6 girls looking to place in the tournament and if they do place they will have a spot in the state competition.

Our boys wrestling team has seen similar success. They competed all season behind strong performances of senior Alex Rodriguez. They placed second in WYL and have many of the wrestlers are competing at the valley meet later this month.

Alex Rodriguez, ‘20, who totes a 35-6 record, says that he loved the bonding experience he had with his teammates. He says, “it’s too early to say who’s qualifying for what, but I loved the team bonding this year.” He went on to explain that he feels the season is going well and he is excited to finish it strong.

The Redwood Rangers have worked extremely hard this season and have brought home 3 out of the 6 possible league titles during the winter season. Cheer on our boys and girls basketball and wrestling teams this week in their postseason competitions.

Tags: basketball, Redwood, redwood basketball, sports, varsity basketball