Rancho girls hoops senior is Wingstop Player of the Week

By Jesse Granger

Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016 | 5:51 p.m.

Many high school athletes are fortunate enough to play under the tutelage of the same coach for all four years of their career.

Few get the opportunity to do it for six seasons, as Rancho senior Maureen Macato has.

Ashley Vossen, in her second season as varsity head coach at Rancho High, has coached Macato since she was in middle school.

“Her game has evolved so much and she’s having so much fun, and that is what I think is making her so successful right now,” Vossen said.

Macato’s senior season has been the best of her career, and she is the first female athlete to win our Wingstop Player of the Week award.

“I’m so speechless I don’t even know what to say,” Macato said. “I didn’t expect it at all, but it’s an honor.”

Standing at only 5-foot-3, Macato slices through defenses on her way to averaging 16.4 points per game.

“Maureen is a sparkplug,” Vossen said. “She brings a level of passion and intensity that no one else brings. She can shoot the ball, she can handle the ball and she really is an all-around player.”

The senior plays both point guard and shooting guard, but despite leading the team in scoring, Macato says she prefers to be a passer.

“Honestly, it just depends how the game is looking. It’s whatever they need me to be, but I like to get my team involved with passing, and also by teaching them, especially the younger players because we are such a young team,” Macato said. “Just trying to get them to the level that all of us can be on.”

The Rams have only five seniors, with an equal number of sophomores on the varsity roster.

Macato is also averaging 3.3 assists and 2.6 blocks per game this season and has led the Rams to a 10-7 nonconference record.

“She’s our captain so she is our all-around leader,” Vossen said. “They look up to her. The younger kids want to be like her because she is a great student and a great athlete.”

Now Rancho is into league play and faces an uphill battle in the Southeast League — one of the valley’s toughest.

“This is a really tough conference,” Vossen said. “We know that every night is a battle but (Macato) steps up every single game. There is never a game where she isn’t a presence on the court. We are competing for the playoffs, and to finish with a decent seed, and she leads the team. What she does, they do.”

With her decision on playing basketball at the next level up in the air, Macato says she plays every game like it could be her last, and feels that the knowledge she can pass onto her teammates outweighs any of the gaudy numbers she puts up.

“I try to pass on all of the knowledge from coach (Vossen) to the younger players, because she’s been coaching me since I first held a basketball in my hands,” Macato said. “I’m kind of sad knowing it will come to an end, but I’m doing my best to give her all I’ve got for my last season.”