Despite losing key starters Dexie Medida and Evelyn Edwards to graduation this past spring, the Wilcox Chargers varsity basketball squad seems to have reloaded on the fly. After a 68-9 blowout win over Oak Grove on Dec. 11, the Chargers improved to 5-0 in the team’s non-league portion of the schedule. Led by seniors Gigi Garcia and Carissa Quistian, Wilcox appears to have had no drop off in performance and perhaps could even go further than last year’s team, which fell in the second round of CCS.
Not only have Garcia and Quistian elevated their presence as leaders on and off the court, but the emergence of two underclassmen gives the Chargers a strong core four. Sophomore Gwen Coplan played on varsity as a freshman and has taken a noticeable leap forward in confidence to start her second season. Furthermore, freshman Kai Estrada showed elite on-court vision and tremendous defensive anticipation in the win over the Eagles.
“I see the two of them every day at practice, and during games; they always show up and show out,” beamed Garcia in praising her younger teammates. “I can see how much they enjoy the game. I want to be able to provide them the support that Dexie, Evelyn and [Sharanya Salvadi] gave to us.”
“Gwen is really aggressive and she’s grown as an overall player in the last year,” chimed Quistian on Coplan. “This year she has got a lot of confidence and gotten even better. She’s really good.”
“Kai is a really good athlete; she does multiple sports,” added Quistian on Estrada. “The fact that she is able to be a freshman on varsity basketball and probably being a starter soon, it’s impressive. I’m really proud of her.”
One of Estrada’s most impressive plays against Oak Grove was a fantastic dish through a small sliver of a passing lane to set up a layup inside for Garcia.
“I just look at her, we make eye contact and she just throws it instinctively. She knows I’m open,” noted Garcia on her growing chemistry with Estrada. “For her to be able to throw those thread the needle passes is pretty insane.”
With senior leaders and young talent, the Chargers look like they have the makings of a solid squad. Undefeated through five games, just how does Head Coach Justin Fujihara feel about this new mix of players?
“It’s definitely been a learning curve, the [seniors] have been learning to try and communicate and got on the same wavelength with the younger players,” acknowledged the head honcho. “But they’ve been doing a really good job at keeping everyone together and holding people accountable. It has been a good transition for this year.”
How about the young, upcoming talent?
“Gwen came in last year as the only freshman on varsity and it was different because on her middle school team she was like ‘the guy,’ whereas coming in as a freshman she realized that she’s not,” said Fujihara. “She really took the whole season of learning, asking questions, and after that one year, you can see she has made a big impact, her presence is heavily seen on the court.”
“Kai was an aggressive player in eighth grade and she still brings that type of mentality which is great,” continued Fujihara on Estrada. “She sees the game, she wants it. She looks for those passes. She’s still getting used to the speed and strength jumping straight to varsity, but they don’t shy away, which is what we like to see from our young players.”
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