HEAD COACH
Karl Pope, fourth season
2019-20 AT A GLANCE
Overall record: 4-14
Region record: 0-4 (third place in Desert Southwest)
Playoffs: None
ALL-REGION PLAYERS DEPARTED
G Reagan Goforth, first team
G Vivian Guevara, second team
PLAYERS TO WATCH
C Skylar Combs, sr., 5-9
Combs will try to lead a young frontcourt toward improvement this season. The undersized Kings struggled down low in 2019-20.
G Sabrina Tumbaga, sr., 5-6
Tumbaga will look to fill the void Goforth and Guevara left in the backcourt. Expect her to do most of the ball handling for Kofa.
G Nieves Garcia, jr., 5-5
Garcia had a chance to learn the guard position behind Goforth and Guevara as a sophomore and now will need to step up alongside Tumbaga in the backcourt.
“These are young ladies who have now moved up in the program and will be looked at to help guide this program this season,” Pope said of the three players. “These young ladies will be looked at to bring veteran leadership to this young team this year.”
OUTLOOK
The Kings will be looking to improve from a 4-14 season that featured only one win against 6A competition — their season opener against Trevor G. Browne.
“The strengths of this team this year, we will see,” Pope said. “This is a young team and given the climate of our country these past months, they’re still taking the time to jell and learn from one another, but we’re eager to have that first contest to compete and set the tone for the season.
“Our weakness is our youth. We have a young team, and this will be some (players’) first time in a varsity game. Getting them acclimated in practice as much as possible has been our focus.”
The competition in the Desert Southwest has increased with the addition of Maricopa, Rincon/University and Tucson.
“This season I expect us to come out and compete, play with enthusiasm, and play with maximum effort to execute during our contest,” Pope said.
COACH SAID
“I’m excited for these young ladies to have the opportunity to compete and get some semblance of normalcy back in their lives. I look forward to growing with this team and (my players) coming together to experience group success.” — Karl Pope
Full article: https://scorebooklive.com/arizona/2021/01/21/expect-enthusiasm-maximum-effort-from-kofa-girls-basketball-team/
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