By Marcus D. Smith–
The Mavericks girls varsity team was coming off back-to-back losses to start Golden Empire League play and were hungry for their first win in league. When they faced Mira Loma High School at home on Jan. 17 they were out searching for blood.
From the opening tip, the girls were relentless with their efforts as they opened the game on a 10-1 run, stifling their opponent. By the end of the quarter, the Mavericks led, 17-5, and would continue to build on the lead throughout the half. The score was 25-10 by half-time.
“I think the biggest thing was coming out with energy…our big game plan was we’re going to come out were going to try to get a big lead as quick as we can to really make a statement like ‘hey we’re here, don’t mess with us,’” said Mesa Verde varsity head coach, Mark Toscano.
Mesa Verde received a lot of help from junior team leaders, Maleena Ridore and Vanessa Flores. Each had 16 points to help balance the scoring for the Mavericks. Ridore notched a double-double by adding 15 rebounds to her stat line.
Defensively, they were sound. Through the first three quarters, they did not allow them to score over 10 points. After the buzzer sounded, the Mavericks celebrated their first victory while defending their home floor. The final score in this game was 47 to 29.
“We’ve been working on our press. We knew this was a little bit of a slower team so we could press them and that really showed with pulling off to that 10-1 lead fast. That was mainly our game plan to start the game,” said Toscano.
Upcoming game
The next game for the Mavericks will be Tuesday, Jan. 22, when they host Woodland High School on their home floor. Mesa Verde High School comes into the game with a 1-2 record, while Woodland is sitting at 2-1, fresh off of a 20-point win against Casa Roble, 49-29.
“We know right now we have to grab Mira Loma, Casa [Roble], and Woodland to give us a chance to grab that third place spot for playoffs. I have tape, we’ve watched film on Woodland,” said Toscano, looking forward to their next game against the Wolves.
The game is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. This is the first of two meetings between the two schools. The next meeting will be on Feb. 7.
“We’re going to do everything to prepare Monday to go on and beat them. If we can grab that win, that’s going to be huge for us and it’ll definitely make a statement that we’re ready to go to playoffs,” said Toscano.
Sports Reporter Marcus D. Smith covers high school sports in Citrus Heights. Smith is a Sacramento-area native and earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2017.
