During the first week of practice to kick off the 2025-26 campaign, it was clear that Victoria Sancho and Cali Geehan wouldn’t have the senior basketball season they had both hoped for at Winlock High School.
Only five girls showed up to practice, and one suffered a concussion. Athletic Director Ben Suhrbier gave new head coach Tori Nelson an ultimatum.
If Winlock couldn’t get enough players by the end of the first week of practice, the season would be canceled.
The team couldn’t scramble together enough players in the short amount of time, thus cutting the campaign short before it began.
That should have been the end of the story for Geehan and Sancho. But the two veterans were determined to write their own endings to their stories.
Upon hearing the news that their season had been canceled, they immediately reached out to the boys basketball coaches to ask if they could serve as managers for the boys varsity, junior varsity and C-teams. The coaches agreed.
While they enjoyed being near the action in managerial roles, the seniors wanted so much more for their final prep season. After all, Geehan had played basketball for Winlock since eighth grade and Sancho had played since her freshman year. Additionally, Sancho’s soccer campaign was cut short due to a lack of players, and she had no interest in sitting out again.
“I had a hard time processing that it was real,” Geehan said of hearing the news that the season was canceled. “It really hit me when I watched the boys play their first game. It was very sad.”
Shortly after their appointment as managers for the boys teams, Sancho and Geehan attended practice with the boys just to shoot around and stay active. But volunteer coach Jeff Lund jokingly came up with an idea for the girls to suit up with the boys teams.
What may have seemed like a joke to everyone else turned into potentially a historic moment on the horizon for Geehan and Sancho. No girl had ever suited up for a boys basketball team at Winlock High School.
Winlock had to complete a number of steps before history could be made. Coaches had to receive approval from Suhrbier, the Winlock School Board and all of the athletic directors in the Central 2B League.
After the coaches got the green light from the necessary parties, including the Winlock School Board on Dec. 17, the two girls made their debut for the boys JV and C-team squads on Dec. 19 against Toutle Lake.
“Once they were serious that they wanted to play, Ben didn’t deny them the opportunity,” Tony Quezada, Winlock’s boys JV and C-team coach and varsity assistant, said. “At first, we were joking. We didn’t want to open that Pandora’s box. But once the girls initiated it, Ben made it happen. He tried doing whatever he could.”
Quezada was hoping to have the girls available for the Cardinals’ Dec. 17 JV and C-team games against Pe Ell, but the girls represented themselves at the school board meeting that same night. According to the coaches, the school board presented a “resounding” yes to the idea of letting Geehan and Sancho play with the boys.
“We already knew they couldn’t say no to us,” Sancho said with a laugh. “We were telling all the boys that we were gonna take their spots on the team.”
That competitive edge that Sancho and Geehan bring was welcomed immediately by the boys teams. Both athletes are accomplished in other sports and bring a winning pedigree — Sancho is a state champion and school record holder in the 200-meter sprint, while Geehan is an all-league softball player and standout volleyball player.
Admittedly, however, the girls were nervous ahead of their historic debut. Geehan said she was “terrified” and Sancho said she had some jitters. But once they hit the floor, it was business as usual.
“Once I got out there, I was having fun. I was laughing. I was smiling. I lost the ball and I laughed it off,” Sancho said.
Sancho’s defensive energy and quickness and Geehan’s aggressiveness on both ends helped the JV Cardinals defeat Toutle Lake. Lund estimated that Sancho swiped somewhere between four and five steals in the game. Toutle Lake players even told Sancho after the game that she and Geehan were the only Winlock players who blocked out.
“Tori probably has the best defensive stance from C-team to varsity. She is very fundamentally sound defensively, which I love,” Winlock head varsity coach Adam Deck said. “I wish my guys would be a little bit more like her.”
All three coaches and both girls said the boys have welcomed the two seniors to the team admirably. Even when the girls were managers, they were included and part of the team.
“I’m proud of our boys because they just accepted them right away,” Deck said. “They didn’t make fun of them or whatever adolescent boys do. I’m really proud of this program, and I’m happy to be with these guys. It’s just like having two more kids play, and it just so happens that they’re girls.”
“They’ve all been super positive and welcoming,” Geehan added.
Amid the chaotic few days when Geehan and Sancho thought they would never play high school basketball again, their coaches gave them the option of suiting up for another school.
It’s safe to say that the girls gave no thought to that idea.
“I didn’t really feel like putting on a different school’s jersey for my senior year,” Geehan said.
“I didn’t want to leave,” Sancho added. “I always hear about people leaving here to play other sports. Something just made me want to stick with Winlock.”
Winlock’s coaches said it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the girls could see playing time on the varsity team, but they’ll likely remain at the JV and C-team level. They’re also still working as managers for the Cardinals and handling a collegiate academic workload, as they are both Running Start students.
“They’re fantastic kids, and they work hard in our practice,” Deck said. “They don’t shy away from contact.”
“You watch our practice and they’re not treated any differently,” Lund added.
According to the coaches and the girls, the community has responded to the girls’ presence on the boys teams with nothing but positivity. Sancho said parents came up to her and Geehan after the Toutle Lake game with praise, and comments on social media have also been congratulatory.
Geehan said she was initially afraid of what people might say about girls playing on a boys team, but she nor Sancho have faced any scrutiny.
“I was scared if people were gonna have something negative to say, but nothing negative has been said,” Geehan said.
The coaching staff believe the girls showed courage in not only making an opportunity happen for themselves but sticking at Winlock. They also acknowledged that this historic moment may not have happened under previous leadership.
“This is their senior year at Winlock High School. They’ve spent their whole careers here,” Lund said. “This is their school. In years past, this would have never happened. They would have brushed it off. But Ben, Adam and Tony saw something and went for it. That’s the changing culture that’s going on in Winlock. You can see it every day. When you walk out to practice, they’re all one team.”
Winlock High School’s motto is “Together we create a better tomorrow.” Through Sancho’s and Geehan’s initiative given the unfortunate circumstances regarding their season’s cancellation, they helped create a better tomorrow for future generations, Quezada said.
“They’ve set that foundation for the girls coming through the school,” he said. “They’re gonna get some good praise for this. They’ll be at Dairy Queen and someone will be like, ‘Hey, I saw you guys in The Chronicle. I’m proud of you. That was very brave.’ It’ll make them feel warm. For that one girl that wants to play, they gave them that opportunity.”
