Socorro Lady Warriors: young team looking to the future

The Lady Warriors are currently 1-9 for the season. They lost an away game against Rehoboth Christian on Jan 6. Their next game is against Sandia Prep at 2 p.m. on Jan. 8 in the Sandia Prep Tournament.

While that record may not look great, this is a team that is going through a serious rebuilding process. There are only two seniors on the team and only one junior. Along with those numbers, there are only two sophomores. With 10 players on the current roster for the varsity team, that means there are five ninth graders. 

“We have an extremely young team which will be beneficial in the long run but at the moment is challenging due to us having to teach fundamentals at the varsity level.” Head Coach Rebecca Apodaca said. “We're really focusing on building a solid foundation for the program with consistency and implementing culture again.”

Apodaca is in her second year as head coach, was the assistant coach to Amanda Banks for basketball before that, and has years of coaching her children in little league as well. Now her son Moises Castillo has been her assistant coach for last season and this current season. The love of the game runs deep in the family.

“I've always loved basketball, it was my favorite while I was in high school and I'm glad to be able to build the program back up.” Apodaca said. Her daughter, Tatjana Castillo, is a senior and team captain this year.

The Lady Warriors team is well-balanced with a lot of different players contributing. Tatjana Castillo leads the team with an average of 8.3 points per game. Mireya Estrada leads with 41 for field goal shooting percentage. Jonae Rosas averages 8.2 rebounds per game and has two blocks. MariJo Morales has 1.2 assists per game and 3.2 steals per game. 

“We're starting to play together as a team and combination better. Our defense is also improving. We just need to work on completing our shots during games because they do great at practice.” Apodaca said.

The Lady Warriors were 3-22 overall last season and third in 3A District 3 at 2-4. As they get some more experience and build up their skills, this year’s squad could match that record or even surpass it. However, this is a team that has its sights set on the next few basketball seasons. The younger players are getting a lot of time on the court, and they will only be getting batter day by day, game by game, and year by year.

“Everyone wants a winning record and we're building up to that. Each season we set small goals and we're reached several…those are little wins for us as a team. We'd also like to thank our community for all the support as we continue working on rebuilding our program and making our school and city proud.” Apodaca said.

Roster:

#3 Tatum Brown, point guard, freshman; #4 Liliana Alvarado-Gutierrez, forward, sophomore; #10 Esther Gutierrez, power forward, junior; #11 Mireya Estrada, guard, freshman; #22 Tatjana Castillo, point guard, senior, captain; #23 Julissa Avalos, forward, freshman; #24 Jonae Rosas, power forward, freshman; #25 Gyanna Jaramillo, power forward, freshman; #30 MariJo Morales, guard, senior; #35 Shaniqua Webster, guard, sophomore.

January girls schedule:

1/03 JV girls and boys at home versus Cottonwood Classical.

1/06 JV and V girls at Rehoboth.

1/08-10 Sandia Prep Tournament, times TBA.

1/13 JV and V girls at home versus Ruidoso, 5 and 6:30 p.m.

1/16 JV and V girls at Silver City, 4 and 5:30 p.m.

1/17 JV and V girls at home versus Moriarty, 1 and 2:30 p.m.

1/19 JV girls and boys at Magdalena, 5 and 6:30 p.m.

1/22-24 Tularosa Tournament, times TBA.

1/31 V girls at Bosque, 2:30 p.m.