St. Michael looks for identity, chemistry to defend title

WINDOW ROCK

Having captured the last two Arizona 1A state titles, the St. Michael girls’ basketball team matched the same feat as the 1992-93 team.

That team from 25 years ago won back-to-back state titles and it featured some legendary athletes. In some ways, the squad from last year’s team could be as revered as yesteryear’s.

St. Michael coach Carl Adams said last year’s graduating class of seven seniors set a precedent for the fledging program but as they move on there are going to be a lot of question marks as they try to fill in those voids.

“We have to find our identity,” Adams stressed. “Last year we had girls that definitely had that chemistry. They worked well with each other and they wanted to have that uptempo game.

“This year we have a lot of freshmen, sophomores and juniors so they’re just trying to find their groove and see what they want to identify with,” he said.

The Lady Cardinals return four lettermen from last year’s squad, headed by senior Desbah Largo, junior Ali Upshaw and sophomores Star Anderson and Aurianna Quintana.

“They are ready to take over the team,” he said. “They are going to set the tempo for the rest of the team.”

Of the 14 players listed on his varsity squad, five are freshmen. Even though they are young, Adams said the freshmen class is going to be actively involved early on.

“It’s one of those years to where I’m trying to figure out my team,” he said. “I am trying to figure out who my starting five is and at the same time they are trying to figure out things for themselves.”

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