Basketball history has never served the Anzar High girls basketball team very well. Only twice in its history has Anzar been crowned a league champion – the 2008-09 and 2007-08 seasons.
But under new head coach Tracy Carpenter and 6-foot, 1-inch freshman Tera Reed, the Hawks are well on their way to creating a new measuring stick of achievement.
Through the season’s first nine games, the Hawks, who are 6-3, are off to their best start since 2004’s 6-1 opening month.
That year, Anzar won only three of its final 16 games to finish well below .500. In the 2012-13 season, that’s not in the cards, Carpenter said.
“We were 0-8 at the start last year so I am really pleased,” he said. “It’s frustrating at times but we are learning. We have three players that have never played before. We have young players – we only have one senior that plays. We are kind of starting from scratch. Overall I’m pleased.”
And the start hasn’t been easy at all for the Hawks. For the first time in more than 80 games, Anzar defeated a non-division V opponent – and they did it twice. With Reed lead carrying the load offensively – she has averaged more than 20 points through the season’s first nine games – the Hawks have turned to a defensive focus with returnees Leslie Martinez, Lynette Weckerle and Delaney McKinney.
It’s been good see such improvement so early, Peterson said.
“We are understanding how to play,” he said “We are learning. We are getting better. They haven’t played in the offseason here. They have little basketball experience. There is going to be these type of growing pains. Overall, I wouldn’t have believed that we would say we would be 6-3 at this point.”
And the changes start with their head coach, McKinney said.
“I think we got a bit more organized a little more in our plays this year,” she said. “The repetitive nature in it helps a lot … I mean it’s really exciting to be doing this well especially against team that we really never play.”
She continued: “I know they are higher level teams and teams that we have never played them before. It is helping us out all out.”
The winning has become infectious while building the team’s overall confidence, Weckerle said.
“It’s rewarding this year,” she said. “I like it a lot. It feels so much better than last year … We can build up as a team and we can do a lot better in our senior year too. We just … we won this time and it builds up our confidence and we can do better.”
And that confidence spilled over Friday against North Monterey County. Against a Monterey Bay League Pacific Division opponent, the Hawks traded the lead with the Condors in all four quarters before holding on for a 51-50 victory. Reed scored 34 points, including the game winning point from the free-throw line, for the Hawks in the victory. Weckerle finished with nine points in the victory.
“We are a lot more confident,” Weckerle said. “It’s a lot more than last year. We lost so many games but this year we are winning a lot and we feel a lot better about ourselves. For the team, I want to try as hard as we can and win our league championship. I really want that for this team. We can do that because we are a better team this year.”
And unlike past years, advancing in the Central Coast Section is in their grasps.
“We are all excited for it,” McKinney said. “I think we definitely have the skill level and our biggest goal right now is getting past the first round of CCS. That’s our next step.”
The Hawks returned to the court Thursday against KIPP Collegiate of San Jose. Look online for an update. They played at Soledad at 4 p.m. Friday and host John F. Kennedy at 2:30 Saturday.
