Behind every successful high school basketball program lies a
rigorous off-season schedule that includes tournaments and lots of
repetition for young, budding players.
That was the case this summer for the rebuilding Lady Jaguar
basketball team, which put the wraps on a busy off-season campaign
on July 30 with participation in the Summer Heat hoops tournament
in Healdsburg.
The 16-team Summer Heat tournament was split into four pools of
four teams each, and was arguably one of the strongest fields in
several years.
Participating teams included Elsie Allen, Kelseyville, San
Marin, Analy, McKinleyville, Terra Linda, Eureka, Las Plumas,
Novato, Windsor, Santa Rosa, Terra Nova, Sonoma, Ursuline,
Healdsburg-1 and and a second Healdsburg team, Healdsburg-2.
Windsor had a solid showing, going 3-3 in its six games and took
third place in the consolation bracket.
The Jags posted wins over Eureka, Kelseyville and Las Plumas and
fell to Novato, Las Plumas and Santa Rosa.
Overall, the ladies played in a total of six tournaments this
summer that included; Elk Grove, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Alameda
and Novato, before finishing up in Healdsburg.
³We¹ve probably played 40 games since the end of April,² said
Windsor coach Joe Passalacqua. ³We¹re a very young team and we¹ll
take our lumps early, but hopefully we¹ll be ready to go by the
start of basketball season.²
The Lady Jags lost seven seniors following last season,
including all five starters to graduation in June.
But they hope to fill the void with a talented group of athletes
moving up from the frosh and JV squads.
The summer team included seniors Nicole Odetto and Caitlin
Graveson, juniors Charlene Popoff, Tess Hanson, Samantha Lemley,
Allison Grandi and Meagan Fiorito, sophomores Emily Watts and Asena
Vera and incoming freshmen Cynthia Arata, Missy Fern and Jenna
Reed.
