Girls’ basketball: New players step up to replace last year’s stars

Head Coach: Mike Davey

2015-2016 record: 6-6

2015-2016 recap: The team won the Division III CCS championship against South San Francisco but lost in the first round of NorCal against Inderkum.

Key Additions: sophomore center Kirstin Kruka, junior shooting guard Chloe Fung, senior center Yianna Spirakis

Key Matchups: Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Wilcox

Star Players: senior point guard Rachel Davey, senior shooting guard Aryana Goodarzi

Key losses (graduated athletes): Erin Norris, Eleni Spirakis, Nicole Prowse, Stephanie Ouchida

League: Santa Clara Valley Athletics League, De Anza division

Prognosis:  “I'm hoping that we make it into CCS this year and can get a few wins in league,” senior point-guard Rachel Davey said.

Having advanced to the first round of NorCal last year, the girls hope to repeat the outcome of last season, but the loss of half of the 2015-16 roster  makes this goal challenging. Key roles have to be filled, but the addition of talented players have the Falcons hopeful once more.

“We lost a lot of players last season so we will have a lack of experience, but [the new players] are all stepping up to the challenge and already impressing,” Rachel said.

With a different set of players, Coach Davey has structured pre-season practices to focus more on learning the offense and defense strategies, as well as adjusting plays to enhance each player’s strongest abilities.  

According to Rachel, since the team is in an upper league, every game will be a tough struggle. Yet the close-knit team is ready to battle out against opponents this season, and seniors, like Rachel, are ready to taste victory again.

“All the seniors and the juniors have been playing together for a very long time so we're excited to finish out our final season together,” Rachel said.