Chris Schaller is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sierra Linda High School for AZPreps 365.

Mariana Mathis, a small forward for Sierra Linda’s girls basketball team, is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer and one of the best players on the team, yet she is still relatively new to the sport. 

Mathis started playing basketball at the age of 15. Her first love was flag football and she has run track and field for four years.  

“It is so hard to not only start a new sport at the varsity level, but to excel at it while playing two other sports, shows you (Mariana’s) determination to her craft,” Sierra Linda girls basketball coach Anthony Rochin said. 

“Basketball never crossed my mind until my friends, now teammates, convinced me to join the team,” Mathis said. “During tryouts I found similar nuances to flag football and track, so it came easier to me.” 

Rochin has a tough job on his hands.  He will be the fourth coach in four years while having to lead a 3-15  Bulldogs to an improved season. The Bulldogs will not just need to improve in  the win column but in building an identity as well. 

“My goal is to build a culture for these girls,” Rochin said. “We want to build an identity that will lead to an improvement from last season record-wise.” 

To turn things around, the Bulldogs will rely greatly on Mathis, the team’s only senior. 

“I take the responsibility of leading this team, on and off the court,” Mathis said. “ Everyone needs to do their job, but it’s my job to be a leader for them.” 

Her main sport was flag football, but a change of plans has her in line for a career in basketball 

The transition from flag football to basketball overlaps, forcing Mathis to juggle two sports at the same time. 

“I love both sports equally. It’s tough, but I have time for both of them,” Mathis said. “First comes my grades, then athletics. You get accustomed to juggling multiple things at a time.”

Bulldogs guard Sophya Goire is looking forward to this upcoming season while having a new coach and her scoring partner, Mathis, alongside for another year. 

“Mariana and I are looking forward to another fresh start.” Goire said. “The goal is to win more games and also to build a foundation for our underclassmen going forward.” 

Still relatively new to the sport, Marianna expects  to only improve and plans to focus  more on her defense this season. 

“I’m more of an offensive-minded player,” Mathis said. “There’s two parts to the game and my man-to-man defense needs to be better along with off-ball defense.”  

Rochin encourages his players who  play multiple sports to continue what they’re doing.

“At least they’re active playing other sports,” Rochin said. “Hopefully they’re in shape as they’re still participating in their fall sport.” 

Goire also plays flag football but for a club team that is not affiliated with the high school. She’s able to balance the crossover with offseason basketball workouts. 

I really don’t have an issue with balancing both,” Goire said. “Coach knows that Marianna and I both play flag football and that we aren’t able to participate in most of the offseason workouts.”

For Mathis, she always grew up wanting to play football, however flag football wasn’t sanctioned in Arizona until 2023. 

“I played soccer and ran track when I was younger, but football was always my love,” Mathis said.  “I was never given that opportunity until last season, so I took up basketball.” 

Mathis also captains the school’s flag football team as she plays cornerback and wide receiver. She has started every game since the inception of the team last season and wishes she could continue playing in college. 

“In the perfect world I would be playing both flag football and basketball in college,” Mathis said. “My focus is now basketball, post-high school, and currently getting my team to a competitive spot this year.”