The Dos Pueblos High School Girls Basketball team currently has an overall record of 10-11 and a league record of 4-4. They were on a winning streak of five games, but lost to Oxnard High School, putting them in fourth place in Channel League.
The girls broke a record last year by scoring 18 three-pointers in a game, but this year that record was beaten, with 21 three-pointers in a game.
Last year’s season they had six seniors who have since graduated. Their roster is currently made up of four sophomores, two freshmen, one junior, and one senior, making them the youngest team in the league this year. Despite being a younger team, Coach Manny Murillo is proud of the girls skills.
“We are very, very good, and very talented,” Murillo said.
On Tuesday, they played Ventura High School, the number one team in their league. The girls were missing multiple key players, causing them to play with several Junior Varsity members. Taylor Grant (10) scored 13 points, and Carly Letendre (11) scored 12. However, DPHS lost the game 73-43.
The team recently played their crosstown rivals, Santa Barbara High School and San Marcos High School. On Jan. 7, they had a large leading score, winning against SBHS with a score of 69-26. They later played SMHS on Jan. 9, and beat them with a score of 46-39.
“[Beating] Santa Barbara [and] San Marcos, [that was] one of our goals,” Murillo said.
On Jan. 14, they played Oxnard in a back-and-forth game that went into overtime at a score of 44-44, but they did not win and the game finished with a score of 52-48.
On Jan. 16, Murillo said they had their “biggest game of the season” against Buena High School. They did not finish the game with a win and lost to Buena again. They scored 6 points in the fourth quarter but Buena doubled that, ending the game with a final score of 60-51. Lauren Robles (12) scored many points for the team throughout the game.
“We did a lot of things well that I am proud of my team for,” Murillo said.
Now that the DPHS Girls Basketball team has achieved one of their goals, they are now trying to make it to the CIF playoffs. To make the playoffs they must be at least fourth in their league. They hope to bring the first girls basketball CIF title home.
“The ultimate goal is to win a CIF championship, regardless of which division we’re in,” Murillo said. “Wherever we’re placed, we’re gonna be able to bring the first title to DPHS.”
When preparing for games, players say that the pre-season practices are more focused on getting back into shape, while in-season practice is filled with sprints and defensive work. Hannah Remick (9) says that the sprint work makes them “fatigued” for the rest of practice. Then, they work on shots, run plays, and do skill work.
“This simulates and gets us ready for the tough games we’re going to be playing [so that we will be] confident that we will perform well,” Remick said.
One of the team’s traditions is to have a skittle before every game.
“I don’t know exactly how it started but it’s fun to have moments like that as a team,” Remick said.
The girls also have team dinners before games in an effort to get to know each other better.
Remmick has been playing basketball for around 6 years. While being on Varsity, she has grown in the mental aspect of the game.
“We just had two tough losses, but learning from those, we need to work on being willing to grow, and putting in more work,” Remick said.
Kindah Ahmad Reda (9) has played basketball since 4th grade. She is a power forward, since most of the team are near the same size and are guards.
“I think the team’s biggest strength is shooting,” Ahmad Reda said.
Murillo has been a basketball coach for many years, but has been head coach of the DPHS Girls Basketball team for 3 years. He started coaching at the age of 18. He grew up playing sports which were some of his “favorite memories” from his childhood.
When looking for players Coach Manny believes that there are three main things he needs in a player: “energy, effort, and attitude.” He says that, in sports, these are the three things you can control. As a coach he also helps keep the girls motivated.
“I just try to remind them that it’s ok to make mistakes … and always think about the next play,” Murillo said.
The girls will be facing off against Rio Mesa High School on Jan. 23, at 7 p.m..
