Sedona Red Rock High School’s girls basketball team headed into its game against Northland Prep on Saturday, Jan. 18 looking to bounce back from losing two of its previous three games in heartbreaking fashion. The Sedona team did just that.
The Scorpions dominated the visiting Spartans from the jump and cruised to a 57-17 blowout victory.
“I think we all did pretty well,” SRRHS sophomore forward Stephanie Medel said. “We all went up for the rebounds, we made our shots, passed the ball well and worked as a team.”
The game was really decided in its early minutes when Sedona hit Northland Prep with what can only be described as an ambush, scoring more points in the first quarter than the Spartans would score for the entire game.
Medel scored eight points in the opening quarter, freshman guard Annabelle Cook had six, sophomore guard Nyah Valdez had five and freshman guard Helen Westervelt had four. When the second quarter began, the Scorpions led 23-2 and the game was effectively over.
The strong start was a major talking point for the Scorpions leading into the game.
“My thing as a coach is you don’t want to let one loss go into two and into three,” Coach Westervelt said. “It snowballs with young kids and they lose confidence. So we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to jump on them early.’ They’re a big team physically but they aren’t as skilled as us. So we had to use our speed against their size and it worked. The press worked.”
The onslaught continued throughout the game. When it was over, Valdez led the Scorpions with 16, Medel had 12, Cook and sophomore guard Hannah Lanchbury had 10 each and Helen Westervelt had nine.
The decisive win was valuable for Coach Westervelt in another way, as well. It gave Sedona — which, thanks to injuries has been playing predominately with a six-person rotation — some quality minutes for the players recently called up from the junior varsity squad.
“It’s tough as a coach because you want to give the kids enough playing time and you’ve got a big lead,” the coach said. “It’s not like you’re rubbing it in but they’ve got to play. These young kids are freshmen and sophomores and they still need game experience and you can’t tell them not to shoot or play defense. But that’s part of a coach’s life.”
With the win, SRRHS is 8-6 overall, 5-3 in conference play and 4-2 in the 2A Central Region.
Awaiting the Scorpions is a chance to avenge one of their recent tough defeats. On Jan. 10, Sedona lost 50-49 to Camp Verde despite holding an 18-point lead at one point and having two open looks at a potential game winner in the final seconds. The two teams will meet again on Friday, Jan. 24 in Camp Verde for a 5:30 p.m. start.
“We had them the whole game — we just got a little timid near the end,” Valdez said. “This time we just need to hustle even more and continue to focus on our shots, be focused and ready and keep practicing for it.”
Following the game against the Cowboys, Sedona will have only six games left in its regular season. The Scorpions will be home on Wednesday, Jan. 29 for a 5:30 p.m. game against Scottsdale Prep and again for a 6 p.m. game on Friday, Jan. 31 against North Pointe Prep. Sedona will then travel to take on Glendale Prep on Friday, Feb. 1 at 3:30 p.m. before returning home to take on Valley Lutheran on Tuesday, Feb. 4 and Page on Thursday, Feb. 6, with both games starting at 6 p.m. The Scorpions will finish the regular season with a road game against Northland Prep on Friday, Feb. 7 at 5:30 p.m.
