Team Sports Stellar Defense and Court Action
By Trevor Phipps
With the kick-off of the winter sports season, the Woodland Park girls’ basketball team has hit the court with a new energy surge.
The team, which has struggled in the past, has apparently gained some needed experience and they are preparing for a winning stride.
When the season first started, the Lady Panthers seemed to continue the struggles of the past, as they lost their two first matches. However, after a rocky start, the team swung things back around and picked up two consecutive wins.
During their first week of play, the ladies fell to Bennett 37-28 and to Elizabeth 50-31. But then in their second week back on the courts, they dominated Bishop Machebeuf 55-35 and Manual 58-35.
After the first four games, the Lady Panthers are 2-2 overall. However, the team has not played any league games until they played St. Mary’s. (Results of that game were not available before press time.)
So far, Junior Bella Slocum has become one of the team’s best players. She has scored a total 44 points and she has picked up 76 rebounds.
Junior Sydney Roshek has also played well this season, scoring 40 points and snagging 36 rebounds. Sydney’s sister, Senior Savannah Roshek, has also come in key with her 20 points scored and 29 rebounds.
However, according to the team’s coach Craig Macari, shooting is the biggest area the girls need to improve in order to have a successful year. He said that the girls have fared well this season when they don’t have the ball.
The coach said that if they can improve their offense, they should be a tough team to beat with their stellar defense and rebounding capabilities. “Our strength is defense and rebounding,” the coach said. “Bella Slocum is currently leading the state in 3A in rebounding.”
Overall, the coach is confident that he will have a competitive team this year. Last year, he said that the team’s biggest weakness was the fact that the team was young and they needed to learn the game better. This year, he said that he is pleased with the ladies’ progress, as he has noticed a big change since last season.
Macari said that after Christmas break, the team has to take lengthy road trips for two big games. On Jan. 7 the team travels to Lamar and on Jan. 11 they take the journey to Gunnison.
After they come back from break next year, the Lady Panthers start back up by playing a home match against the 1-4 Florence Huskies on Jan. 3. They play another home game against the 3-3 Mitchell Marauders on Jan. 6.
