Doering making most of final season at Cibola

When Ashley Doering made it to varsity for the Cibola girls basketball team, she was a timid, spot-shooting freshman.

Four years later, Doering is all grown up.

The 5-foot-5 senior guard has been a cornerstone for the No. 7 Raiders (7-0) this season, leading the team in scoring with over 15 points a game. She also has recorded 4.5 assists and three steals a contest to go with consistently scoring in double-figures. It's been a lot of hard work and a lot of treacherous practices to get there from where she started.

“She was really quiet. Really timid, didn't say a lot,” Cibola coach Justin Hager said about Doering as a freshman.

At the time, Hager needed a shooter and Doering showed enough potential that Hager not only put her on varsity full-time, but actually played her.

“You have to be careful with freshmen, because you can't have them up there and just not play. We knew that she could contribute as a freshman off the bench, and she did,” he said.

She played out her first season as the only freshman on varsity and by the end of her sophomore year, Doering was finally seeing that chain of fear slowly disappear.

“I played timid at first,” Doering said. “But it was nice to have old players push you. It was scary, but I made it.”

Hager raves about the work ethic of Doering, who has become the school's season- and career-leader for 3-pointers.

“I can't even remember one practice she's missed, offhand. It might have been one,” Hager said. “She's one of the most dedicated players you'll see. She puts in a lot of time in the summer. I've had some dedicated players, but I don't know if I've had many that only missed one or two practices all four years.”

“Practices are dreadful,” Doering candidly said. “But you have to put in the work.”

Doering, who also played for the Raiders volleyball team, has already solidified herself as one of the best shooters in school history. Now she's working on trying to wiggle away from being considering just a dead-eye spot shooter.

“When people ask me who's been your best pure shooter at Cibola, it's going to be her,” Hager said. “She's really worked on her game to be more than a 3-point shooter. ... The biggest improvement I've seen is her defense from freshman year to now. She really didn't want to play defense her freshman and sophomore year. She wanted to score points. Now she's one of our best defensive players and I think other players feed off that.”

Doering, who has had several big games this season — especially a 20-point performance at Gila Ridge in which she scored 17 in the first half — is entering her last hurrah with the Raiders. In her fourth year, she's been trying to play the role of mentor like the older players did for her when she was younger and get the team to a place it's never been — the second round of the state tournament.

For the last three years, Cibola had won the region only to be eliminated in the first round.

“Every year, we go to state and we lose. I want to make it past the first round,” Doering said.

It's been four years in the making, and when Hager is asked how he will remember Doering, he is brought to the same attributes that got her to this point.

“One of the most coachable players I've ever had,” Hager said. “I'll think of her work ethic and dedication.”

Jesse Severson can be reached at jseverson@yumasun.com or at 539-6881