| Some
basketball observers may have wondered whether a state title bid
was realistic when the season first started. First, the team lost
last year's leading scorer and rebounder Lara Kilgore to graduation,
then coach Bill Dolezal left the team to accept an administration
job in the West Valley.
To
make matters worse, starting guard Clare Gersh suffered a career‑ending
foot injury during the volleyball season, which robbed the team
of another key player as well.
Instead
of worrying about what the team was missing, the Falcons remain
close in the standings to defending‑state champion Washington,
and feel their best basketball is still ahead of them.
"The
girls are not intimidated, and I think that's a by‑product
of last year's state tournament," Pletnick said. "Our
focus is still growing ourselves, but fundamentally we've always
been solid."
Part
of the team's continued success has been the re‑emergence
of guard Sara Pages, who is turning in one of the greatest seasons
ever for Cactus Shadows girls basketball. Pages missed most of
last season with a foot injury and was slowed during the volleyball
season with a stress fracture in her leg. She's healthy now, which
helped the team's loss of Gersh.
"We
basically traded me for Gersh," said Pages, who holds a handful
of school records for scoring and steals.
The
team also weathered the loss of Kilgore, last year's team leader,
with the emergence of senior Rachael Stevens, who has improved
her game and become a force in the front court.
Replacing
Dolezal has gone smoother than expected with Pletnick, an assistant
for Dolezal the last two years and the junior varsity head coach,
taking over a team he knew.
"They
knew me, and I knew them," Pletnick said. "It's the
same game as when Bill was here. The team is used to the nuances
and the way we play the game."
And
it doesn't hurt that the team is so "together."
"We
have all bonded with each other," sophomore point guard Alex
Easterbrook said. "This is the least drama team. This is
like a huge family.".
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