By Caleb Knudsen
The winter prep sports season gets underway just as the “atmospheric rivers” hit Northern California, forcing most athletes indoors—unless their chosen sport is soccer. While both boys and girls basketball will begin their competitions soon, the soccer teams will have already taken the field for their season openers by the time this paper hits the streets.
Soccer
The girls played at home on the Healdsburg High grass last Thursday, and both JV and varsity girls teams defeated the visiting St. Helena Saints with identical 3-0 scores. Their next game took place Tuesday night, in Cloverdale, results too late for press.
The grass field was in good shape, but there’s no guarantee it will stay that way.
Key upcoming girls soccer dates include against Kelseyville on Nov. 21, Napa on Nov. 25 and St. Vincent on Dec. 2, all of them home matches. The girls had mixed results last year, ending the season 5-9-2 and 2-8 in North Bay Redwood league play. Once again the girls soccer coach is Tomas Morales.
Not until next Wednesday, Nov. 27, does the boys soccer team play at home, when they meet Rancho Cotate. Their first two games are scheduled for Nov. 20 in Cloverdale and Friday, Nov. 22, in Petaluma. Last year’s boys also had a mixed season, going 5-10-2 overall, 2-54-2 in league play. Herbert Lemus again coaches the boys.
Basketball
The boys have a new varsity coach, in fact the newest in the league: AJ Cronin is just 23, barely out of his high school locker himself. He graduated from Rancho Cotate in 2019, and after two years in Texas was lured back to act as assistant coach for the Cougars.
Now he’s coming to Healdsburg to bring his youthful enthusiasm and court skills to the Greyhounds, in an effort to recover some of the momentum lost by the Healdsburg team in the post-Covid years.
Last year the varsity team went winless in league play, finishing 0-8 and 3-19 on the year. Cronin thinks this year’s roster shows more promise, and the team got its first test on Tuesday this week with a game against the school across the river, Rio Lindo Academy.
Subsequent games include Roseland University Prep on Thursday, Nov. 21, and Maria Carillo on Saturday the 23rd. A series of away games and tournaments follow until the Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tourney (REIBT) returns to Healdsburg, Dec. 12-14.
League play doesn’t begin until Jan. 8 against the five other teams in the North Bay Redwood League, with two games each.
Girls basketball is coached this year by Greg Marguglio, who acted as a valued assistant last year to Jim Lago. The 2024 Greyhound girls had an exceptional season under Lago, finishing undefeated in the Redwood league and 27-3 overall, sparked by the all-star scoring of Hailey Webb.
Webb graduated in June, but many of her teammates return to the floorboards this year, such as Hannah Sellards, Ruby Leffew, Allie Espinoza and Ashley Behrens, all experienced seniors on this year’s roster. Backed by four game-tested juniors and a couple of newcomers, they promise to compete at a high level again.
The girls’ first game was played at home against Tamalpais on Tuesday night, Nov. 19; the next home game is Thursday, Nov. 21, against Branson. A series of away games and tournament play follow until the return of REIBT the second weekend in December.
