A confident and enthusiastic The Dalles High Riverhawk squad, guided by second-year coach Darcey Hodges, started girls basketball practice Nov. 14 with the hopes and expectations it will be enjoying success on the court this season.
There are reasons which indicate they could very well be much improved from last year. The 2021-2022 Riverhawk team won two Class 5A Intermountain Conference games over Gorge rival Hood River Valley, but those were the only two league wins. The Dalles was 4-16 overall, losing four games by single-digit margins.
The Riverhawks return everyone from last season except for graduated senior twin sisters Monica and Marisa Rojas.
“We had quite a few more kids (33 total) than I was anticipating, so that was a good surprise,” said Hodges of the turnout of players. “I’m excited to see all the kids that showed up for the first week of practice and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. We have seven pretty solid kids coming back from last year, too, so that’s good to see.
“Quite a few of the girls, including the incoming freshmen, put in a lot of time playing in summer league this year and they played in some tournaments, too, so that will help us to have an improved team, as well.”
Standout freshmen from a year ago - Riverhawk scoring leader Sydney Newby and Laci Hoylman - are a year older. Other returners include junior Zoe LeBreton, seniors Natasha Muzechenko, Lillian Schatz, and Veronica Robledo, and junior Jeilane Stewart. Those five along with Newby and Hoylman will be key players for the Riverhawk coaching staff which includes assistants Colby Tonn and Dan Telles.
The Dalles also has moved down from the OSAA Class 5A level and is in the Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference this year.
“Last year, we were in 5A and we had a very, very young and inexperienced team,” said Hodges. “Now we have a year under us and we’re in a different league now and so I think that we’ll have a much better season. We’ll learn from last year and we’ll be able to get a few more wins under our belt. I have some great assistant coaches on board with me, too, so we should have a good year with them helping us.”
The league includes Crook County, Gladstone, Madras, Estacada and Molalla. Crook County, like The Dalles, moved from 5A to 4A. The Cowgirls were 22-5 last year and qualified for the 5A state tournament quarterfinals, but they lost seven seniors to graduation.
Gladstone lost one senior from a Class 4A state playoff team last year. Madras lost four seniors from a 2022 fifth-place state tournament team, but they’ll have all-state tournament team recipients Sasha Esquiro and Rylan Davis returning to lead the team.
The Riverhawks will be contending for a state playoff berth for the first time since 2015. The Dalles opens its 23-game schedule with a 5 p.m. Nov. 30 game at Class 1A Horizon Christian in Hood River. Horizon was 3-6 in the Big Sky League last year and 6-11 overall.
The Riverhawks play their first home game Dec. 6 at 5:30 p.m. against the Pendleton High Buckaroos. A key matchup for The Dalles’ fans to circle on the calendar is a Dec. 9, 6:30 p.m. rivalry contest on the road at Hood River. The Riverhawks have won four straight games against the Eagles over the past two seasons.
Commented