Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Vigil hopes to take Lady Jaguars to the level her H.S. team reached

First varsity season will begin at LLHS Monday

John Gale News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jgale@news-bulletin.com

Tomé The Valencia girls basketball team is getting ready to begin its first-ever varsity season under first-year coach Shannon Vigil.

The Lady Jaguars open the season on Nov. 24 at Los Lunas at 7 p.m.

Vigil was a post player with Mayfield in the late 1990s and graduated in 2000. In her junior season, the Lady Trojans advanced to the 5A state championship game, which was Mayfield's first appearance in the final.

Vigil later played for New Mexico Highlands, and the opening of Valencia High School in 2006 coincided with her graduation, so she decided to apply for the job.

"It's just a good job opportunity," Vigil said. "The program was new, just like I was in coaching, and we've grown up together. That's probably the main reason."

Vigil has been in charge of the program from its inception, and she feels that she has benefitted from spending a couple of years with the girls before jumping to varsity instead of starting cold.

"It's a huge advantage," Vigil said. "I've been with them since they started out. A lot of them were inexperienced, and I've watched them grow, and I know their styles and personalities."

Vigil said that her team will try to push the tempo and drive to the basket to make up for her team's lack of height, and they will play mostly zone on defense, with some man-to-man mixed in.

The Lady Jaguars will be a young team with no seniors, but they will look to leadership from their junior upperclassmen, point guard Miranda Ibuado, shooting guard Brenda Reyes and post players Kayla Diaz and Jenae Yalch.

Reyes and Yalch both earned second-team all-district honors for the Valencia girls soccer team, while Diaz played on the volleyball team.

The sophomores on the team are point guard Kirstyn Abeita, center Emma Hart and guard Rachel Hastings.

Rounding out the team are three freshman, power forward Mikayla Gallegos, forward Michelle Traynham and guard Molly Holliday, who was an all-district soccer player.

Although Vigil said her starting lineup is still be determined, she did identify some girls to watch.

"Michelle Traynham is a natural athlete and knows her basketball," Vigil said. "Our point guard, Miranda Ibuado, can break presses by herself. Brenda Reyes will be a force. And Emma Hart, my left-handed, 6-foot-1 post, is my one tall girl."

Valencia has a relatively tough schedule, especially since it is a new varsity program. In their non-district schedule, the Jaguars will play state playoff teams Los Lunas, Belen, Rio Grande, West Mesa, Grants, St. Michael's and St. Pius.

St. Pius has won two of the last three 4A state titles, and St. Michael's was a Class 3A state finalist.

When District 5-4A play begins in January, the Jaguars will contend with Albuquerque Academy, Del Norte and Moriarty.

All three teams made the state playoffs last season, with the Lady Pintos getting the No. 4 seed.

"Moriarty has the Valencia twins (Kristin and Brandi), so they're going to be solid, probably our toughest competition," Vigil said. "Del Norte (coached by former Belen coach David Medina) will be good too."

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