With the start of colder weather and shorter days, Dinuba High School is transitioning from fall to winter sports. Among those sports are DHS’s basketball teams. The girls’ team, led by Mark Bray (Head Coach), Gil Gonzalez (Assistant Coach), and Nick Harold (Assistant Coach), is looking forward to an exciting season and is expected to follow in the previous season’s footsteps as league champions (10-0 in league).
With five returning players and nine new underclassmen, this team may lack experience, but it makes up for it with new goals, talent, and hustle. The mix of experience and inexperience may be a challenge, but this interesting blend could be a leading factor in the team’s success. “…our expectations are always fairly high and… I think with the mix of players that we have, we should contend for a league title again,” states Bray.
Bray mentions that the team’s strengths are the returning players, like Samantha Gonzalez (junior) and Peyton Acevedo (junior), who both played on varsity as freshmen and have continued to contribute in tremendous ways.
“We have shooting. We have rebounding. We have defense–it’s coming back. And with the youngsters, we have athleticism and talent… They go along with the talent we already have,” Bray explains.
A few major stepping stones in the set schedule are rivalry games like Reedley High School and Kingsburg High School, large tournaments like the Dinuba Holiday Classic and the Surf City Holiday Classic, and challenging match-ups like Monche High, Liberty High, and Hoover High. Every challenging game along the way is a crucial step–one that sharpens the team’s skills and strengths before entering league play.
Bray plans to bring patience to his role as a coach and believes that patience will only benefit the team, especially with all the new players and the unfamiliarity that comes with them. “When you’re patient, things happen faster, less stress, and with the young group that we have, I think patience is going to be a big virtue,” he states.
He ends with this, “For this team, I can’t place wins-loss, even though we try to, I think improvement and the ability to gel the experience and the inexperience is going to be a big key. For us, obviously, success would be a league championship and a run at the valley title…”
The first home game is Wednesday, December 3 (12/3/25). Come out and support your Lady Emps as they take on Porterville High!
Anahi Chavez • Feb 13, 2026 at 1:56 pm
this article did a good job of explaining the skills and strengths that the Lady Emps have learned throughout the basketball season, It shows how hard they are working and sets a good example for working together as a team and accomplishments.
Brianna Rodriguez • Feb 13, 2026 at 1:40 pm
One thing I liked about this article was them mentioning their 2 players who have been on varsity since freshman’s. This article made me think about how talented these girls are and how hard they work.