With the inconsistencies of the December schedule in girls basketball, many coaches around the state are still working out the kinks with their rosters and rotations while balancing travel for tournament play and preparing to close shop for an extended period of time for holiday breaks. For some, the time to make corrections is now; for others there may be a more patient approach, knowing that the flow of games and practices in January and February lends itself to rapid improvement.
There’s enough mystery to the season to warrant a second rendition of early risers in small-school girls hoops. Last week, Grand Valley (Class 3A), Crowley County (2A) and Prairie (1A) were highlighted. This week will look at a few more teams and individuals who are raising some eyebrows in the first few weeks of the season.
More early risers:
Class 3A
Team: Yuma
A 3-0 week vaulted Yuma right up toward the top of MaxPreps.com’s 3A rankings, as senior Caddis Robinson led the squad to a saucy victory over Rangely in what is the team’s biggest win so far. Robinson posted 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting and added five rebounds and two assists against the 6-1 Panthers — and she’s now averaging 10.4 points per game. It’s largely been a different leader every night, however, for Yuma in its 5-0 start.
Individual: Jaela Pedro, St. Mary’s
Her team 4-1, the sophomore Pedro has shown a lot of confidence in her shot already with a 15.8-point scoring average and 46% shooting. She’s adding 6.8 rebounds per game, to boot.
Class 2A
Team: Loveland Classical
You play who’s on your schedule, and while that has meant a slate of games so far against some struggling teams for the Lions, they still have been very impressive both offensively and defensively. First year coach Kip Doan has the team averaging 46.2 points per game while allowing just 31.3 points to opponents. LCS is not scheduled to take the court again until Jan. 11.
Individual: Miah Wren, Rangely
A junior who’s averaged near double-digit scoring each of her first two varsity seasons, Wren has upped her game tremendously with a 20.5 ppg average through six games this season. She poured in 32 points against North Park, and kept the Panthers in the game against Yuma with 18 points.
Class 1A
Team: McClave
The least surprising team on this list, the Cardinals turned heads with a three-wins-in-three-days sweep at the Lamar holiday basketball tournament last week. In it, their closest game was a 15-point win against Eads. Leading scorer, sophomore Abrielle Gomez, had 27 points against Eads to tie a career high, and senior McKayla Kiniston is off to a nice start (9.7 ppg) leading a ton of young talent.
Individual: Isabela Maldonado, Primero
The Bulldogs (3-3) play a deep bench, but ultimately they’ve relied on the sophomore Maldonado to handle the biggest duties around the basket. She already has two 20-point/10-rebound double-doubles and has scored at least 18 points in four of the five contests where stats were available on MaxPreps.