Starting guard is lost for the season, coach says.
By Dillon Holloway
dholloway12@student.alamo.edu
The Rangers fell to the Northwest Vista Wildcats in a tightly contested 73-67 matchup March 5 in Candler Physical Education Center.
The team came into the game with just six players after losing kinesiology freshman Destiny Solis for the season to a torn left Achilles.
Rangers head coach Haley Capestany said the injury occurred during the team’s previous game against Southwest Texas Junior College Feb. 28 in La Forge Hall Gym in Uvalde.
Solis’ Achilles tear was a non-contact injury, Capestany said.
Capestany said Solis planned on returning to the team next season and talked about how hard she worked on and off the court.
“She didn’t have a passing GPA in the summer. Over the summer, she went to summer courses, got a 4.0 and raised it up in order to play,” she said.
“On top of that, she came to summer workouts every day. She’s a nut.”
The Rangers carried a 14-point lead into halftime, but the Wildcats went on a 14-5 run coming out of the break.
The Rangers held a 6-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but foul trouble and an inability to grab rebounds would become the team’s downfall.
“I think toward the very end, we just were not focusing on the small things which was don’t foul,” Capestany said. “I’d say blocking out killed us, too.”
The Rangers had a total of 18 fouls between four players, including leading scorers kinesiology freshman Celeste Arriaga and criminal justice sophomore Jordan Foster.
Arriaga finished the game with 29 points and Foster had 20, but both guards fouled out before the final two minutes of the game leaving the Rangers with only four players.
The Rangers held a 4-point lead after being limited to four players on the court, but the Wildcats took advantage, going on a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game and escape Candler with a victory.
The Ranger’s record stands at 6-7 after the loss.
The team’s final regular season game will be against Texas A&M at San Antonio 6 p.m. March 21 in Candler Physical Education Center.
