Entering this season with more youth and scoring options than last year, there is plenty of optimism concerning Tigers girls’ varsity basketball.

Senior Olie Cantu reflected Head Coach Reggie Lemon’s ideology on the team’s current situation.

“This year’s team is a lot younger and smaller,” Cantu said, “so we’re going to have to use our speed and shooting abilities to keep up with bigger teams.”

Their team roster shows the abundance of underclassmen on the team, as they have lost many of last year’s great players such as Kelle Knopp and Greta Thompson. There are eight underclassmen on the team and this is different from last year when they had mostly seniors.

“Last year we had seven seniors,” junior Marissa Mussatto said. “We have two this year. Our team is very young so with that it’s a learning process.”

Despite their lack of experience, they can still have a successful season for a multitude of reasons.

“[Our] goal is to have the team develop and learn,” Mussatto said. “We are extremely young, and I want us to get better. I hope that we can have a solid record, but building the team is the most important thing.”

Sophomore Beatrice Atienza also expressed that they are more mistake-prone of a team due to their inexperience at the varsity level. However, these mistakes can be worked on and they can gradually become more efficient and careful with the ball each game.

“For this to be a successful season I will consider the youth of our team and accept that we will make a lot of mistakes,” Atienza said. “However, from those mistakes we have to encourage our teammates and learn from them.”

Sophomore Lexie Hernandez is one of the best scorers on the team, as she scored __ in her last game since missing the last five. They should benefit greatly through the duration of the season as they gain more experience and establish teamwork with each other.

“[My goal is] everybody getting better as the season goes on and everybody giving 100% every time we are on the court,” Hernandez said.

Mussatto spoke very highly of Hernandez and others who have stepped into leadership roles such as Olie Cantu.

“Lexie Hernandez never fails to score in double digits and hit clutch threes when we need her to,” Mussatto said. “Olie has heart for the game and gives every game her all, and Beatrice is a great point guard and an extremely hard worker.”

They have specifically worked on their shooting, defense and protecting the basketball in order to decrease the number of potential turnovers in games. Going along with that, they are focused on making the team culture a top priority and let the results come with it.

“This years’ team has more options even though we are young,” Lemon said. “We are so young that they will depend on each other.”

They have started the season out with a 1-6 record, but they still have plenty of time left to adjust and get better.

“I think to consider this a successful season, it’d have to be going out on a win,” Cantu said. “As long as we work together as a team and do our jobs, I think it will be a great season.”