Even though the Los Gatos High girls basketball team returned a solid core of players off a 2021-2022 squad that finished 25-4, won a Central Coast Section championship and advanced out of the opening round in the CIF NorCal playoffs, each season is a new one that presents different challenges.
It takes time for every team to coalesce and the Wildcats are no exception. That much was evident after a 45-41 loss to Branham High on Dec. 7.
“We have a lot of new pieces this year and a lot of old players in new positions, so we’re still figuring it out,” coach Sara Quilici Giles said.
The defeat came after two convincing wins, and Giles plans on using the game as an opportunity to improve.
“I think tough losses and close losses really teach you a lot, especially early in the season,” she said. “It’s almost kind of nice for that to happen early on. You don’t want this kind of loss in February but in December, it’s almost like OK, we can learn from this.”
With returning starters Nicole Steiner and Ashley Childers and four additional players who either started or saw significant court time last year in Claire Galbo, Casey Brennan, Keira Dodd and Ella Rabitz, another promising season could be in store for Los Gatos again.
Add in top newcomers Lola Cuevas and Hannah Slover into the mix, and the Wildcats are poised to contend for a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division title. Steiner is a 6-foot sophomore post who had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the Branham game.
Also a volleyball and track and field standout, Steiner improved her basketball skills which has made her an even more formidable force this season. As the season goes along, Giles hopes Steiner will get the benefit of the doubt in getting foul calls. She hit 6-of-8 free throws against Branham and should get double-digit attempts at the charity stripe every game because she’s always around the basket and going up for shots with multiple defenders around her.
“Nicole is so strong that she’s going up through so much contact, but it doesn’t look like it’s a foul because she’s so strong,” Giles said. “She gives (assistant coach Matt) Holm bruises during practice because she’s like a freak of nature that way.”
Childers is a 6-2 sophomore who excels on the perimeter and has improved her game from a year ago.
Dangerous from beyond the arc, Childers has become a bit quicker on her shot release which gives defenders less time to strongly contest those attempts from 3-point range.
Brennan, a senior combo guard, provides a steadying presence as she’s reliable with the ball and plays with composure. Galbo is a 6-1 junior forward and has a solid all-around game which should prove vital to the team’s success.
Dodd and Rabitz fill their roles nicely and bring back experience and poise. Like Steiner, Slover is a volleyball and track and field standout. The 6-1 forward provides strong post defense, rebounding and has a nice jumper from in close range. Cuevas, a freshman point guard, can get hot from 3-point range and has the capability to push the ball up the floor and create scoring opportunities on the fast break.
Like every team, Los Gatos looks to use the non-league portion of its schedule to improve upon its weaknesses and reinforce its strengths. The Wildcats had their best run of play against Branham in the final minutes of the game, when they switched up their defense which resulted in a mini flurry of Bruins’ turnovers.
After Branham took its largest lead of the game, 43-32, with 5 minutes, 43 seconds remaining, Los Gatos closed the game on a 9-1 run. Giles was proud of the team for playing hard to the end and mounting a comeback even when things weren’t going their way for most of the game.
“We could’ve laid down and died after that first half because we were not playing well, and we really gave ourselves a chance at the end which is fantastic,” she said. “We forced three or four turnovers in a row in the fourth quarter and we can do that all the time if we kind of turn on the fire a little bit, which we unfortunately didn’t and I took responsibility for that with my team. We’re all human and we’re just trying to get better. So it’s kind of nice we’re all figuring this out together.”
