As the old coaching adage goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” For the Coronado High School girls’ basketball team, it can’t get much tougher. The Islanders lost three prominent players earlier this season while others endured sickness and injuries.
“It’s a battle finding the right combinations,” Coolidge said. “We played a couple of varsity games with three varsity players and five JV players… And we’re in games until about the third quarter, and then the freshmen are just dead. It’s a learning experience for me.”
Heading into the Friday night game against Hoover High, the team had lost seven of its last eight games with a 1-6 league record.
Yet, in a close game, Coronado pulled out a 35-25 victory.
Freshman Izzy Guymon, the leading scorer for the Islanders, notched 15 points, with junior Charlie Reyman adding eight points.
The win was a refreshing bounceback after a 53-13 blowout loss against Canyon Hills High School.
After having to forfeit its first girls’ basketball matchup against Canyon Hills on Jan. 13 due to sickness and injuries, Coronado’s chance at redemption was all for naught. Despite taking a 4-2 lead in the opening minutes, Canyon Hills poured it on throughout the course of the game, forcing many turnovers with its full-court press.
Guymon and Reyman scored all 13 for the Islanders.
Since the Jan. 16 game against Hoover, the Islanders have been without three of their most prominent players from the first half of the season.
Prior to their departure, the Islanders were averaging 30 points per game. Since then, that number is down almost nine points, to 22. On the defensive end, the team gave up 41 points per game before losing the three players. Since losing them, the Islanders have given up 46 per game.
There has been increased defensive attention on Guymon, who now leads the team in scoring.
“Teams are double and triple-teaming Izzy,” said Coolidge. “Sometimes she has a really good game, sometimes she’s a freshman and gets frustrated.”
Because of the roster turnover, Coolidge has had to get creative with different rotations, trying to find the right fits. That challenge has been compounded by injuries and illness causing players to miss games.
“We’re trying to incorporate the JV and varsity together, so that they know if they come up, all the plays are the same, everything’s the same… So when they’re on the court, they don’t feel so uncomfortable,” said Coolidge.
Coolidge said senior Maria Anaya, a Yale lacrosse commit, has stepped up in a time of need.
“She’s probably one of the best defensive players I’ve seen,” Coolidge said. “She’s learning how to score, but she’s a senior, and she’s never going to quit. She’s a D1 athlete. She just has that mentality of go, go, go.”
The Islanders are coming off a season in which they went 17-4 in Division V and were the No. 1 seed for CIF playoffs in San Diego.
Because of their dominance, the Islanders were bumped up to Division IV. Making it even more difficult, all other teams in Coronado’s league play in a higher division than the Islanders.
However, with a record of 8-11 and winning their most recent league game against Hoover, the Islanders are still in the hunt for the playoffs, looking to make a run. Sixteen teams make it to the CIF playoffs.
According to the most recent MaxPreps standings, the Islanders are at No. 13. Against fellow Division IV opponents, the team is 2-1, having beaten O’Farrell Charter and Canyon Crest Academy, but lost to El Camino High.
Coolidge said “getting in and winning in the playoffs” would qualify as a successful season for this group.
“They’ve played some really tough, tough teams, and we’ll pull out a win here and there,” Coolidge said. “We know we can come back. We’re pretty athletic; we just have to focus more.”
