CAPTION: Senior point guard Ariel Gutierrez elevates to get the angle on a shot against a Taft defender. photo by Maria Garcia.
Season has just begun for the varsity girls basketball team, but they have been participating in programs such as AAU, summer league, fall league, and open gyms year round.
Ariel Gutierrez, senior player and captain, has played throughout all her years of high school and has shown great dedication and leadership to the team. She describes things that she would like the team to fix as the season continues.
“I think the team could work on communication, defense, and set up playing hard one game, playing hard each and every game. Working hard does come with bigger and better things. Never not try your best, always try your best in everything you do.
CAPTION: Sophomore post Diamond Sloan concentrates on shooting a free throw against Taft at the new NISD gym. photo by Maria Garcia.
Junior Ruth Tanajara, is one of the best defenders in the girls basketball program and varsity team. She has contributed herself to the team and has played a role in helping the team be successful.
“I hope we can fix our defense because I don’t want to be the only one doing all the work. We’re more as a team than we are one person,” Tanajara said.
Dawn Engleman-Tisdale, the varsity basketball coach, explains what areas the girls have improved on since last year.
“The team has improved on everything. We are communicating more than we have, but we still need to communicate better. We need to work on boxing out because we’re not boxing out very well. We are looking up the floor better, and we are running an offense better than we ever have,” Engleman said.
Engleman emphasizes the potential that the girls have for the season.
“Overall, this is the best team that we’ve had in four years, and my hope is to have the best record that we have had in four years. There are a lot of little things we need to do, but I can tell you that this team has more heart and their work ethic is very good. They just have to keep believing in themselves and applying the things that we do, and if they do that, we are going to see success that we haven’t seen in a while,” Engleman explains.
Go support your Lady Husky basketball team as they take on the Brandies Broncos at Paul Taylor Field House at 6:30pm on Friday, December 16.