Girls Basketball Spotlight: Tucson Badgers

Conference: 6A 

Region: South

Head coach: Annette Gutierrez (213-72, 11th season at Tucson and overall).

Assistant: Greta Naranjo 

Last Year: 19-7 (qualified for state playoffs)

Roster:

• Gabriella Sanchez (Sr. 6’1″, PF, 4V)
• Makayla Luna (Sr. 5’5″, G, 2V)
• Lilianna Codner (Sr. 5’7″, W, 1V)
• Celeste Estrella (Sr. 5’4″, G, 1V)
• Leza Stembridge (Sr. 5’5″, G, 2V)
• Iris Barcena ( Jr, 5’7″, G, 1V)
• Maliya Robles (Jr, 5’4″, G, 1V)
• Juliana Valenzuela (So, 5’5″, G, 2V)
• Kamila Vasavilbaso (So, 5’8″, G, 2V)
• Isela Rodriguez (Fr, 5’4″, G, 1V)
• Melany Peraza (Fr, 5’4″, G, 1V)
• Destiney Brown (Fr, 5’7, G, 1V)

Noteworthy:  Former Arizona standout guard Greta Naranjo, who went on to coach at Pima College, is a longtime assistant at Tucson High who has coached the freshman/JV teams. … Former assistant Felicia Greenhouse is now on Todd Holthaus’ staff at Pima. … Senior forward Gabriella Sanchez, a four-year varsity member, is at 864 points and 537 rebounds in her career. She is averaging 23.1 points and 11.7 rebounds this season. She also leads the Badgers with 2.9 steals per game. … Senior point guard Leza Stembridge is a true distributor — she averages 1.9 points per game but leads the team with 3.9 assists per game. … The Badgers are 8-8 overall heading into Tuesday’s game at Cholla.

Coach’s comment: “This team is a great group of young ladies. We are young, with Gabriella Sanchez as the only four-year varsity player.  The Lady Badgers are working hard to improve each day as this year is a rebuilding year after the loss of eight seniors last year.  We work to step up to the challenges we face each day and overcome adversity.”