The first part of the Twin Cedars Girls basketball season did not go as smooth as they wanted it to go. An early season quarantine due to COVID-19 reduced the team to just 3-4 players during practice and early season losses had the Sabers stumbling out of the gates with a 1-2 record. Coach Trent Verwers tells KNIA/KRLS Sports, the girls seem to gain a lot of confidence and realized they were able to play well in a victory over Valley Lutheran December 3rd.
Verwers:
“Things were not really working that great. I think that Valley Lutheran game we really saw a lot of improvement in that game and the score showed in that.”
Sedona Red Rock News
Freshman Rachel Roderick, center, pulls down a rebound for Sedona Red Rock High School s girls basketball team against two Valley Lutheran players during the Scorpions win over the Flames on Tuesday, Feb. 23. Sedona also won the rematch the following day to clinch the 2A Central Region championship. Photo by David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers
It was a situation that the players on Sedona Red Rock High School’s girls basketball were all too familiar with leading throughout the game against an undeniably quality opponent making a run in the fourth quarter. A season ago, it’s a game that the SRRHS team likely would have squandered. But against Valley Lutheran on Tuesday, Feb. 23, Sedona showed that while the names and faces are largely the same this year’s team is a lot different than last season’s.
Sedona Red Rock News
Sedona Red Rock High School basketball player Joey Johnson goes up for a layup in the Scorpions game against Valley Lutheran on Tuesday, Feb. 23. The Scorpions defeated the Flames on Tuesday and again the following day in what ended up being the final games of the season. Photo by David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers
Sedona Red Rock High School’s boys basketball team knew that the stakes were high heading into its game against Valley Lutheran on Tuesday, Feb. 23. Any chance of making the postseason would have been out the window with a loss. When the game was over, the Red Rock team got the result that it needed.
Sedona Red Rock News
Scorpions junior Stephanie Medel (15) shoots the ball past Cowboys junior Daijah Thompson (13) during the girls basketball game between Sedona Red Rocks High School Scorpions and Camp Verde High School Cowboys at Sedona on Saturday, Feb. 20. Scorpions defeated Cowboys 55-38. [David Jolkovski / Larson Newspapers]
While the local rivalry remains intact between the girls basketball teams of Sedona Red Rock and Camp Verde High Schools, the two are no longer 2A Central Region rivals, with the Cowboys moving to the 3A conference. That meant that the game between the two teams on Saturday, Feb. 20, was the Scorpions’ lone chance this season to earn their first victory over Camp Verde in three years. They did not waste that opportunity, winning 55-38.
Sedona Red Rock News
Sedona Red Rock High School’s girls basketball team entered its home gym for a game against Desert Heights Prep on Wednesday, Feb. 17, with a perfect record. The Scorpions left the gym the same way.
Playing for the second consecutive night, the SRRHS attack wasn’t always as crisp as it’s been for much of the season. But the end result was a familiar one in that Sedona not only won, but won decisively, finishing on the right end of a 61-26 final score.
“We tried our hardest we know that this wasn’t our best game,” sophomore guard Mayra Parra-Landaverde said. “Even though we missed a lot of shots and did some bad stuff, we tried our hardest and pushed through the pain from the last game.”