Coaches hopeful as season begins

Basketball season is finally here.

That's what area coaches are thankful for despite the changes the new season may bring.

Many top players have graduated and new faces are ready to make their mark but, as always, it's hard to tell exactly what each team might be working with so early in the season.

But it's not too hard to see for a couple of 2A teams.

A regular postseason qualifier, the Navajo Prep Lady Eagles are going to have a new look. Head coach Rainy Crisp said with some new players the team will have its own style.

"I think this year is going to be the same...we're a young team but at the same time we'll still have our quick game, our fast-pace game," she said. "It's going to be a different look, the style of basketball that we will play this year, just because of the girls that we have. I know that we will still be competitive in our area."

The Lady Eagles opened the season with two losses, one to Class 3A Wingate and the other to Class 4A Piedra Vista.

Rehoboth boys basketball coach Kevin Zwiers is another coach who knows exactly what he's working with.

"We are going to be young and pretty inexperienced," he said. "We graduated six seniors off last year's team. One of the big positives to this group of guys is that all of them are capable of playing. Also they get along very well on and off the court.

"They're a fun group of guys," he said. "They enjoy playing the game of basketball together, that leads to teamwork, that's going to be key, that's going to be a strength for us."

The Lynx defeated Pine Hill, 72-24, in their season opener.

In Tse Yi Gai, the Diné Warrior girls' will spend most of their season looking for some chemistry.

Head coach Valerie Nacki, who coached the team for four years with the exception of last season, said the team is young and will need to use every game to improve.

"It's pretty much rebuilding," she said. "From the past years that I've had my other teams, I kind of feel that this group this year is pretty well balanced...I feel like now I can depend on the bench. They're young, still need work but I think if they keep going the way they're going, the next couple years they'll be up there."

Tse Yi Gai lost their first game to Dulce, 50-39, and their second game to Gallup Catholic, 62-28.

In Rehoboth, the Lady Lynx are evaluating what they have. With players trickling in from other sports, head coach Myron Postma is still looking for his first full practice.

"We are inexperienced," he said. "We got two girls that have played varsity before, so we got a lot of inexperienced girls.

"Every year is different," he said. "This year is going to be exciting, we're going to keep getting better all season. We have some quickness and scrappy girls, we'll be fun to watch - a lot of new faces."

Rehoboth lost their first game against Thoreau and won the next against Crownpoint.

Class 3A

In Class 3A, one of the competitive classes in area basketball, the Miyamura Lady Patriots made heads turn last year as the team of underclassmen took the area by storm.

The Lady Patriots are still young, still have no seniors but they are seasoned. They are stronger and ready to work harder.

"This year they've all hopefully matured," said head coach Marty Alderete. "We've gotten a little bigger physically. We expect to be very competitive in our district, build on what we did last year.

"We finished as runner-up to Crownpoint," he said. "This year we're just trying to build for that, make state, and advance further than we did last year."

Miyamura defeated Laguna Acoma in their season opener, 69-25.

In Newcomb, head coach Gary Morrow has been with his team for only a little over a week. But the coach is no stranger to the area or the teams, having coached at St. Michael and Rough Rock.

"Basically everything is brand new to the girls," he said. "The system that I run and how I run practice. The skills drills in the first part of practice, then we're working on motion type offenses. We want to spend more time on offense than defense, I'm kind of expecting our defense to improve a lot more."

The Lady Skyhawks lost their season opener to Navajo Pine but won their second game against Shiprock Northwest, 63-24.

In Tohatchi it will be a new start for the girls' basketball team as young players take on some big roles.

Tohatchi head coach Fern Spencer said her team is going to need some time to make adjustments to each other and to the new level of basketball.

"We are rebuilding," she said. "We have three starters back from last season. Right now we have the younger kids that have been brought up, they have to make adjustments, they have to work together.

"It's just trying to readjust ourselves for what we need to do and going back to the fundamentals," she said.

The Lady Cougars lost their season opener to Santa Fe Indian School, 90-38.

There have been some big changes in Thoreau. The Lady Hawks have a new coach and a new situation.

Valarie Antone, who was the boys' head coach, is now coaching the girls.

Antone said it's new to her but she hopes to bring the same coaching philosophy she had with boys' to the girls' team.

"I had seen the talent," she said. "We have 10 girls - all seniors, only one junior. I think the approach was just to use their skills, use their talents. They're fast, I had to keep that in mind.

"One of the things that I focused on was that I told them we're going to have to strengthen our fundamentals," she said. "I explained to them we're not going to have 20 different offensive plays or defensive plays, that we have to take care of the middle. We're not really tall, we're going to have to make up for that with speed and heart."

Thoreau defeated Rehoboth in their season opener, 45-39.

Note: Many coaches were unavailable for comment and some did not respond by deadline.

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