The AV Girls Basketball team has been having a strong season, and they are looking to continue that momentum throughout the time they have left. Head Varsity Coach Dan Sweeney is very confident with this diverse and talented team. 

“I would say we are mostly a senior dominated team… But Gianna Ghio is a junior that’s done well. And Ellie White has done a good job. She’s a sophomore. She came out late from soccer. She’s been a nice surprise,” said

Sweeney. 

This hardworking group practices every Monday-Saturday since midway through November. Their dedication has been showcased through performances that have exceeded everyone’s expectations. The three captains, Riann Sarno, April Krywe, and Gianna Ghio have been leading the way.

“We’re a fast team… We’re working on boxing out and being more aggressive inside because we are a vertically challenged team,” said Riann Sarno (‘22). 

Despite the height disadvantage, the team wants to emphasize their strong points to lead them to a successful season.

“Our team is very quick. And we can play at a high pace or fast pace. And so we have a good ability oftentimes to beat teams up and down the court. They also compete pretty well. We do a good job of working hard defensively, and we are also very unselfish,” said Sweeney. 

A strong mentality and a deep understanding of games is a significant key to victory that sometimes gets overshadowed by three pointers and flashy plays. These are just as crucial as the team’s skills and physical conditions. 

“We’re always working on trying to get a better understanding, our knowledge. You know, we talk about how you can’t control how big and fast we are. We control how hard we play and how smart we play. So we are constantly working on just being an intelligent, hardworking basketball team,” said Sweeney. 

 The team already brought some trophies home, and they are looking forward to winning more this season and progressing from their positive start. 

“So far the season has gone really well. We won the Washington Tournament and came third in the Windsor Tournament. The goals would be to win our side of the league. We won the valley side of the girls basketball league the last three years. And the goal’s to make it four in a row,” said Sweeney. 

Most recently, our Amador girls were able to pull off a win against our longtime rival, Foothill High.

“Our rivalry games against Foothill are always exciting and close, but we managed to come out with a dub 39-31.” said Sarno.

In order to continue playing and obtaining wins, the girls basketball team has had to fight the recent surge of the Omicron COVID variant. 

“We have had some games rescheduled because certain teams didn’t have enough players and such. Our coach tested positive but we’re still playing while our assistant coaches take his place for now.” said Arissa Leomiti (‘22).