It has been an eventful journey through Sedona Red Rock High School for seniors Marisa Carrara and Kristina Schindele.

“I had never played a sport in my life. Freshman year was the first time I’d ever touched a basketball,” said Schindele, a four-year letterman who will be recognized, along with Carrara, by head coach Joe Donaldson, after their final Sedona Red Rock High School home game Thursday, Feb. 5, against Cortez High School. “I didn’t even know what a foul was — I was, like, ‘You just hit their hand and they’ll miss every time.’”

“When I first started playing basketball here, I couldn’t make a layup to save my life,” Carrara added. “My free throws, they would never go in.”

But both can safely say they have learned more from their first-year head coach than in their five combined previous years in the Scorpions girls basketball program.

“From the beginning of the year, I have learned more than I have in the previous two,” said Carrara, a three-year letterman. “Coach Donaldson is helping me become a better player about everything, especially at center.”

The Scorpions [9-5], ranked No. 21 in the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Division III power rankings, will need all the strength of not just their seniors, but their other eight experienced players to beat the Colts and their final regular-season opponent, Mingus Union High School, on Friday, Feb. 6.

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Feb. 4, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.