Point Loma Nazarene University freshman point guard, Kate Bobadilla, described her basketball origin story as universal. It began with her older brother, an outdoor hoop, and a sibling rivalry.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy urge to be better than my brother started my love for basketball,\u201d Bobadilla said with a laugh. \u201cI would get mad at my dad because he would always practice with my brother, but he would never practice with me; so, I would always challenge my brother and try to play him one-on-one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of the limitations of girls\u2019 basketball in her hometown, Bobadilla, a native of Twentynine Palms, needed extra motivation from her brother, who she called one of her biggest influences.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe [girls] are a very small basketball community,\u201d she said. \u201cIf we had the resources of a bigger city, more girls would play \u2013 I don\u2019t think many people get committed to the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
A four-year varsity player, Bobadilla walked into the Twentynine Palms high school gym, on day one, adept at putting the ball in the hoop. As a freshman, she averaged over 19 points per game. Had she not lost almost an entire season because of COVID, Bobadilla would have more than likely set the school record for points scored.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer ability to change pace offensively and get to the rim was very impressive,\u201d said Grace Ricafranca, PLNU assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. \u201cAs a lefty, she can make passes to teammates with both hands. What I really love about her game is her confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coming out of high school at 5 feet 5 inches tall \u2013 now listed, perhaps generously, at 5 feet 8 inches tall \u2013 Bobadilla was named Twentynine Palms athlete of the year three times and was first-team all-state in 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cI speak often about her character,\u201d Ricafranca said. \u201cWho she is and the work that she wants to put in is what\u2019s going to make her great \u2013 so I am really excited about her future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond what was lost in the stat book, the pandemic also created unique challenges for high school athletes at a critical time of development. The only way for Bobadilla to combat lost practices and games was to sharpen her skillset through individual drills and work ethic.<\/p>\n
\u201cCOVID had a huge impact on everything,\u201d Bobadilla said. \u201cWe stopped practicing together, but we still had emails telling us what we should do individually. That year and a half without real competition; you can do cardio all you want but your stamina is not the same. It also made the recruiting process hard, but it gave me time to step away from the competitive aspect of basketball and recenter myself as to why I started playing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the high school season, you get that opportunity to really hone in on skill development,\u201d Ricafranca added. \u201cYou get those games taken away you don\u2019t get those back. As much as you can be at home working on things, it doesn\u2019t create the same experience as being able to play in five-on-five game situations \u2013 it was a hindrance not only for her but everyone playing high school at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the early stages of her freshman season with PLNU, Bobadilla has played sparingly and has struggled from the floor, shooting just five of 24 through the teams\u2019 first nine games. But there have been flashes. In a Nov. 12 loss to Cal Poly Pomona, Bobadilla made the most of her minutes, shooting three of five from beyond the three-point line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe adjustment to college has been really challenging but worth it,\u201d Bobadilla said. \u201cI\u2019ve struggled a bit adjusting to having a whole new coaching staff and figuring out how to play my game within their system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a little systemic with what we want to do,\u201d Ricafranca added. \u201cFor her in high school, it was a lot of dribble-drive and create, whereas here we have certain looks that we are looking for. With any freshman, it\u2019s continuing to learn what the role is for her in creating shots for herself and her teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
In limited minutes, shots have yet to fall for Bobadilla, but her approach on the defensive side of the ball, hounding opposing guards, has been reminiscent of a backyard game between her and her brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat she is doing well is bringing good energy off the bench,\u201d Ricafranca said. \u201cShe is aggressive on the ball with a lot of pressure. She can create a lot of havoc for the guards she is defending. I am looking forward to exploring more of that while getting her acclimated to our system. She is going to be a good player when everything comes together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The long-term expectations of Bobadilla are high. By her senior year, Ricafranca said of her game \u201cshe could be one of the best two-way players we could have at Point Loma.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between now and then, it comes down to the work Bobadilla puts in.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething about Kate, she is always going to be willing to put in the work,\u201d Ricafranca said. \u201cThat is where the confidence comes from. As an example, she didn\u2019t play big minutes in our game last night and she is in the gym today doing an individual workout, working on the things she needs in her arsenal to make more of an impact offensively and defensively.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Point Loma Nazarene University freshman point guard, Kate Bobadilla, described her basketball origin story as universal. It began with her older brother, an outdoor hoop, and a sibling rivalry. \u201cMy urge to be better than my brother started my love for basketball,\u201d Bobadilla said with a laugh. \u201cI would get mad at my dad because […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1178,"featured_media":317841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Point Loma Nazarene University freshman point guard, Kate Bobadilla, described her basketball origin story as universal. It began with her older brother, an outdoor hoop, and a sibling rivalry.","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"3","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11561,11553],"tags":[12413,12685,14802],"class_list":["post-317840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peninsula-beacon","category-sports","tag-basketball","tag-point-loma-nazarene-university","tag-twentynine-palms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}