The Rio girls basketball team is striving for success as the winter season gets underway.

“Players have shown a high level of commitment by showing up for practice 4-5 times a week,” said coach Quenice Davis. 

In the preseason, they were conditioned to prepare for the upcoming season, and even now, “They approach each day with focus and are ready to learn from their coaches,” Davis said.

As Davis is a new coach for the team this season, she hopes to help them improve their skills.

“Whether it be new skills that they learned or life skills, I expect players leaving [feeling] like they are better players but most importantly a better person,” said Davis.

Before the Dec. 14 tournament, we asked two players, junior Stephane Solis and sophomore Zana Parakevas, some questions.

Q: How long have you been playing basketball?

A: I have been playing basketball for nine years in total and two years for Rio. – Paraskevas said.

A: This is my third year playing for Rio but I played a couple years in elementary school. – Solis

Q: Leading up to this season, how has your team been preparing?

A: We do a lot of running, constantly. – Paraskevas

A: There has been a lot of conditioning preparing for the season, we do line drills everyday. – Solis

Q: Is there any big contrast between last year’s team and this years?

A: There are a lot of new freshmen on the varsity team this year, so we have a really new roster. – Paraskevas

Q: How do you guys think the rest of your season will play out?

A: I think that it might be a little rocky because of our new roster and the really good teams we’re playing. But we’re going to have a really fun season anyways. – Solis

The team started the season on Nov. 20 in a game against Twelve Bridges. They lost the game 33-44. The team had a tournament against Kennedy on Dec. 14, which they lost 30-71.

They won 51-64 against Sac High on Jan. 15, lost 68-25 to Vista Del Lago on Jan. 17 and lost 71-30 to Christian Brothers on Jan. 24 71-30.