Lady Bucks pick up first win

The Breckenridge High School girls basketball team opened the season with a 48-38 victory over Ranger last Saturday.

Chris Robertson picked up his first win as Lady Buckaroos’ coach after his team trailed by a bucket at halftime only to explode in the second half, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs by a 12-point margin.

“With as young as we are, and only having a couple of returners with varsity experience, it was just mindset and confidence. Now they have one under their belt,” Robertson said.

Senior Alyssa Reyes seems to have not missed a beat from the 2016-2017 campaign, leading the Lady Buckaroos in scoring with 15 points, followed by senior Carly Tennison’s 13 points and 11 by sophomore Madison Stanley.

“[Ranger] was big and we just had to learn to get under them and be faster,” Reyes said. “Our big advantage was we were faster. A win was very important. It was our first game of the season and being so new and running new stuff. After we got into everything we did really good.”

The new-look Lady Buckaroos also featured their new-look, man-to-man defense, which Robertson said originally had some hesitant whether it would work. 

 “This year, it’s really fast-paced defense. Last year, it was a zone and a little slower,” Reyes said.

Freshman Nayeli Hernandez may not have lit up the scoreboard Saturday, but Robertson said her clutch performance in the second half allowed the Lady Bucks to get some distance and pull down their first win of the season. Considering Hernandez spent the preseason running for the cross country team, Hernandez said those late summer to mid-fall 3-mile runs paid off when it comes to being prepared for basketball season.

“At first, I was terrified but after the game Saturday I started getting used to it,” Hernandez said. “I just had to get a feel of playing with them. What they’re thinking and what’s going on. [Preseason conditioning] was kind of easy. Cross country really got me into shape.”

The Lady Bucks will play their home opener at 6 p.m. Tuesday when they host Bellevue, then remain at home to face Stamford Saturday at 2 p.m. With tournament season just around the corner, Robertson will have plenty of time to perfect the Lady Buckaroos’ aggressive, man-to-man defense. He said his team’s defensive play sets an early tone to each game and challenges opposing teams to match their physicality or fall behind. 

“They haven’t seen man around here for quite a long time,” Robertson said. “It’s just a mindset. I want to instill man-to-man principles because, no matter if you’re running a man or a zone, you have to keep people in front of you and the rules and the spacing will help. Once the first person gets beat in man-to-man, it’s a zone automatically. If you learn the style and technique you can learn almost anything.”