This Is Combs Girls Basketball
The 2017-2018 Girls Basketball season is in full swing after tryouts during the last week of October.
After the 2015-2016 season, the team lost graduated seniors Nikki Ruiz, Cydnee Colpaert, and foreign exchange student Ilaria Vesley. The following year, 2016-2017, there were only two returning seniors, Kyla Pena and Ashlyn Allen.
“We didn’t have a lot of returners. We had to learn how to score on our own and relearn how to get the ball in the hole,” Head Varsity Coach Amanda Webster said.
The Junior Varsity team also took a hit on players last year.
“Our JV team consisted of two girls, Miranda Garcia and Kaylee Kroetz,” Webster said. “We had girls from Varsity and Freshman come and play some of that game to help piece together our season in those minutes.”
In the end, the Varsity team ended the season with an 11-16 record and placed second in their region.
This season however, Coach Webster says the team lucked out.
“We do not have any seniors at all this year that have not played in the program,” Webster said. “We have a girl from Alaska who is a junior, a girl from New Mexico who is a senior, and a gal that moved from Mesa that is a senior. Oh, and a girl from Morenci who is a senior. So we have some girls moving in that haven’t played with me so they don’t know the program, but they’ll learn.”
The team also has returning players such as Hallie Tucker (Jr.), Elisabeth Allen (Jr.), Katie Johnson (Jr.) and Brianne Harris (So.).
As a final thought, Coach Webster said she hopes to move the ball up, and run and gun this season.
“Hopefully we have some fast enough feet… that we can press and have our defense create our offense,” Webster said. “Which sounds like Combs Basketball.”
Their first game is Nov. 21, 2017 against St. Mary’s High School.