With Hampshire’s hold on the lead slipping away Friday night, sophomore guard Jiselle Lopez was put into a difficult spot on defense.
The strategy was to make sure Lopez got right in front of senior guard Keira McCann, who was Geneva’s main offensive threat all game long.
“I think I handled it well,” Lopez said. “Knowing I was face-guarding, not helping, having my teammates switch knowing there were only four defenders, they did really well with that.”
It’s just part of Lopez’s expanded role in her second varsity season.
Her work defensively and handling the ball against the Vikings proved to be the key as the host Whip-Purs picked up a rugged 38-36 victory in the Doreen Zierer Turkey Tournament.
Lopez also scored nine points as part of a balanced attack for Hampshire (1-1).
Veronica Dumoulin paced the Whip-Purs with a team-best 11 points. McCann, meanwhile, poured in a game-high 19 points for Geneva (0-2) and Emma Peterson grabbed 10 rebounds.
Coming into the season, Hampshire coach Eric Samuelson challenged Lopez. Knowing she has a knack for getting the ball to the basket, he wanted to instill confidence in her to do that more often.
“She’s probably one of the quickest girls in the area,” Samuelson said of Lopez. “When she turns the corner, it’s hard to stop her.
“Last year as a freshman, she would get to the elbow and she would stop. This year we said, ‘Kid, that’s not going to be OK. For our team to do well, you need to go to the hole.’”
Four-year varsity guard Mikala Amegasse, a returning all-conference player, also recognized how the Whip-Purs needed to get Lopez going this season.
Watching a drill with Samuelson early on in practice, she even mentioned it to her coach.
“They were running a drill and J-Lo did what J-Lo does,” Samuelson said of Lopez. “She has a gift. Mikala was like, ‘We need to get her the ball a lot this year.’
“Jiselle is finally saying, ‘OK, I know what you need.’”
Having a role model like Amegasse has helped Lopez come to that realization.
“I really look up to her,” Lopez said. “I want to follow in her footsteps. I feel like we work really well together.”
Amegasse has been in Lopez’s position before as an underclassman trying to find her way in varsity basketball. That gives her a unique perspective that she can pass on to Lopez.
“Looking at her from last year to this year, she’s grown so much,” Amegasse said. “Still, I yell at her. I’m like, ‘Dribble the ball, shoot it, keep attacking and don’t be afraid.’
“It’s cool to see her grow with her confidence. Everyone has her back.”
A layup off a steal and a 3-pointer from Lopez helped Hampshire take a 23-18 halftime lead. She was held scoreless in the second half, but her defense changed the game.
The Whip-Purs only scored four points as a team in the fourth quarter, but she slowed down McCann and the Vikings didn’t have another answer.
“Keira played really well for us,” Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. “We have to score. We struggled to score on Wednesday and we struggled again (Friday). We have to be able to put points on the board.
“We’ll get it. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
Lopez, meanwhile, isn’t the only underclassman that Hampshire is relying on this season. Amegasse and Dumoulin are the only seniors on the team.
Amegasse knows that in order for her to close her career out in memorable fashion, she’s going to have to help bring Lopez and the rest of the younger players along for the ride.
“We have a young team, so we’re expected to have some hard times in the beginning, but I’m proud of us,” Amegasse said. “I think we just really trust each other until the end.
“I think we maintained our composure.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
