El Molino and Analy high school girls basketball teams tipped off in local tournaments last weekend, with the Lions competing in the Piner tourney, while Analy took two of three in the Lady Dragon Classic in Sonoma.
The Lady Tigers (4-3) are coming off a busy stretch that included exciting tournament wins over Vintage (37-35) and Sonoma Valley (54-53). In addition, Analy has notched preseason victories over Maria Carrillo (53-34) and Northgate (53-26).
Raquel Gomes has taken the reins of head coach from Earl Passamonte following several seasons leading the JV squad, and has lofty goals for the 2017-18 season.
“Our main goals for this season are to be the hardest working team in our league,” Gomes said. “We want to specialize in playing great defense, become more aggressive offensively and win our league and advance further than the first round in NCS.”
Returning veterans for the Tigers include seniors Alexis Dibene, Claire Brown, Lauren Lehmann, Lauren Murnin and Julie Ambrose, and talented junior Isabel Housman.
First year varsity players are senior Danny Acosta, juniors Lucia Jameau, Minh-Tam Le, Sierra Atkins, and Aleah Armstrong, and sophomores Breanna Lawrence and Leah Lawrence.
At press time the Tigers were preparing to host Ukiah on Dec. 5, followed by participation in the Windsor Classic Tournament on Dec. 7-9. Analy opens the tourney on Dec. 7 in a 7 p.m. tip-off against St. Bernard’s.
Lions log first win
The Lions (1-5) broke into the win column, after dropping their first five preseason outings, on Saturday in the Gold Rush Classic Tournament at Piner, soundly defeating Elsie Allen in the getaway game.
El Mo began the season with lopsided setbacks to Lower Lake, Tomales and Middletown before falling to Novato (41-20) and Petaluma (52-25) in the first pair of games in the Piner tourney.
“We’re young and learning as we go,” El Mo coach Keith Nordby reported.
The Lions will be back in action Dec. 6-9 in the annual Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament in Healdsburg, opening up on Wednesday, Dec. 6 in a 4 p.m. start against Justin Siena.
