When Camp Verde’s girls basketball team takes the floor in January, it will do so with many different players from the team that reached the 2A state finals last season. One key face returning, though, will be junior Shelly Warfield.
Warfield will be the only starter from last season’s team returning. Heading into her third season, she knows that more will be expected of her. The change in roles is one that she’s looking forward to taking on.
“In my freshman and sophomore years I was always one of the youngest girls on the court and I was used to that role,” Warfield said. “Now I’m a junior and we have a lot of younger girls; I want to step up and help them. That’s our next generation of players for the next few years. So stepping up and helping everyone out is one of my biggest goals.”
But Warfield isn’t the top returning player by default. Despite sharing the floor with decorated seniors like Jacy Finley, Tanna Decker and Amanda Lozanilla, Warfield found a way to make a big impression of her own during her sophomore season. At season’s end, she earned First-Team All 2A Central Region honors.
Warfield gives a lot of credit to coach Mark Showers for her success on the hardwood.
“That guy is one of the best coaches I’ve been coached by,” Warfield said of Showers. “I’m thankful for him because he’s taught me a lot.”
Showers, meanwhile, praises Warfield’s physicality, comparing it favorably to players that he’s coached in the past.
“She’s probably one of the most physical, strongest players I’ve had in a long time,” the coach said. “She will definitely be a cornerstone for our program this year and next year.”
Warfield is a multi-sport athlete with the Cowboys. She also just wrapped up her third season playing volleyball for Camp Verde.
When her senior season comes around next fall, she expects that her role on the volleyball team will be similar to what it currently is in basketball.
“It plays in with the same role as basketball — we have a lot of younger girls and a few older ones,” Warfield said. “Basketball is my top sport but volleyball really means a lot to me, too.”
Her interest in sports is something that Warfield hopes to carry into her career beyond high school.
One option that she’s thought about is becoming an athletic trainer. But even if that doesn’t pan out, Warfield hopes that she can do something in the physical education field to help future student athletes.
“I’ve been playing basketball and volleyball since fifth grade,” she said. “I just fell in love with the environment. If I can do something to help athletes, I’d enjoy it a lot. I’ve been in their shoes before. I just feel like it would be a good spot for me.”
