Natalie Lopez is new to Soto, but not to Public League basketball,
The 4-9 senior guard is fitting right in with the Wolves after transferring in this year.
“It’s been the best,” Lopez said after scoring eight points in Soto’s 28-21 home win over Kelly on Nov. 18.
“The teammates are very wonderful. They helped me to do better even when I’m falling down. That’s what I love about Soto and this program.”
Lopez doesn’t see her stature as a disadvantage.
“Even if I’m short, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’ve got to still put pressure (on) and just do the best that I can.”
Wolves coach Louie Burrel has been glad to add Lopez — who played three years at Bulls Prep — to the mix.
“She’s one of the seniors so she’s definitely a leader on the team,” Burrel said. “And we’re counting on her. But we kind of count on everyone and we talk about that.
“This win was a really good team effort. The balanced scoring was just all about how we like to play the game. We try to play unselfish, share the ball and have fun.”
Sophomore Paloma Vega-Guerra led the Wolves with a game-high 10 points and 6-2 freshman Yarhely Garcia grabbed 11 rebounds to go along with four points.
“Honestly, she’s really good with the ball, too,” Lopez said of Garcia.
“Today was a big coming-out game for (Garcia),” Burrel said. “This is only our second game (of the season) so we haven’t seen a lot of her yet. But I tell you what, she earned (more) minutes after tonight.”
Beating a Red division team such as Kelly was a nice milestone for Soto, which has been climbing the city ranks.
The Wolves were in the lowest level of Public League girls basketball as recently as 2022-23, winning the Green South at 8-0 and finishing 18-9 overall. Soto moved up to the Blue South-Central the next season, taking second in the conference at 9-1 and going 15-7 overall.
Last winter, the Wolves were promoted again to the White South-Central and finished fourth while going 11-9.
This year they’re in the White Central.
“As a young program, because we’re like half upperclassmen, half underclassmen, it’s kind of a big deal (to beat Kelly),” Burrel said. “We’re trying to set the tone for what we’re trying to do moving forward.”
Amairany Rincon had seven points and 15 rebounds for Kelly, which is a work in progress. Rincon and Amy Lora are the only seniors on a roster that is dominated by sophomores.
“It’s going to take awhile, but hopefully by the New Year we get there,” Trojans coach Hector Hernandez said. “Our goal every year is to stay in the Red. It took us a long time to get there. … It means something when you can say you play in the best conference.”