Sandrine Krul has a simple philosophy when it comes to substitutes: The more the merrier.
“I like to play 13 or 14,” said SBCC‘s eighth-year women‘s basketball coach. “It makes for better team chemistry and we never have any problems because the players know they’re going to play. We value hard work and if you work hard, you’re going to play.
“Janelle Wong (an all-WSC player from last year who’s playing at Minot State in North Dakota) told me, ‘One thing I learned from playing in your program for three years is you guys reward hard work. That’s not the case in a lot of other programs.’ ”
The Vaqueros open on Thursday with a 5 p.m. game at Reedley. They’ll play at Sequoias on Friday at 2 p.m., then host their own MTXE Tournament on Nov. 17-19.
Four players return from last year’s 21-11 edition that made the Southern Cal playoffs for the sixth straight year. The Vaqueros reached the second round of last year’s Regional before coming up five points short (51-46) at No. 2-seed San Bernardino Valley.
“We have a lot of talent, we just have to put it all together,” said 5-5 sophomore guard Brooke Berry, who averaged 5.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals last season. “We’ll be pressing, fast-breaking and playing defense that hopefully turns into offensive scores.”
The other returners from last year’s squad that went 7-5 and placed fourth in the WSC North are guards Jennifer Jimenez and Leslie Steele and forward Mercedes Gonzalez. A fifth player, Jasmine Johnson, is back after redshirting in 2010-11.
Top newcomers include 5-10 forward Elia Salazar from Marshall High in Los Angeles, 5-11 Sara Crane from Dos Pueblos High, Shannon Abdulla, Lindsay Jesserman and Katie Grande.
“We haven’t had a true post player since Jessica Romero in 2007, so I’m really excited to see Sara Crane,” Krul noted. “And we need to get Mercedes to be a beast in the post instead of taking those finesse shots. I know she‘s making them but she needs to be a beast to score at will.”
Krul said it’s all about the team concept and their motto, MTXE (Mental Toughness, Extra Effort).
“Once this team understands that we need all of them, not just seven players, the level of play will keep getting better even when we sub. We’re going to be well-balanced with good guards and good post players.
“We haven’t had that since 2007 when we won the conference. I’m really excited about this year.”
The Vaqueros have a tough schedule that’s ranked No. 10 in the state.
Krul said her team will play an up-tempo style and full- and half-court presses on defense. Offensively, Steele, Jesserman and Grande will be threats from the 3-point line.
Krul said she wasn’t sure who will start, besides Berry and Jimenez.
“Anybody can start and that’s a good problem to have,” she explained. “It’s going to be whoever works the hardest.”
She feels this team could be better than last year.
“I think we’ll be better because we’re well-balanced,” Krul noted. “We didn’t do well in conference last year and I’ll take the blame for that. We went 13-5 in the preseason and I really worked them hard. It was too much and they faded.
“This year, we did something completely different. The first six weeks, it was all fitness with no basketball. Once we started full-time practice, they were excited to play with the basketball. We’re hoping by the time January comes, we’ll be in better shape.”
Krul said the goals are to win 20 games, make the state playoffs and get to the Regional finals.
“We always get to the second or third round,” she said. “We have to get over that hump and I’m hoping this year, with our balance, that we can.”
