Unsigned senior: Jocelyn Marquez, Pueblo Central
Every team has roles that certain players need to fill. Pueblo Central High School’s Jocelyn Marquez doesn’t like to be stuck to just one. The Wildcats senior has proven her ability to score, create for others and turn defense into…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingEvery team has roles that certain players need to fill.
Pueblo Central High School’s Jocelyn Marquez doesn’t like to be stuck to just one.
The Wildcats senior has proven her ability to score, create for others and turn defense into offense over the course of her four years in Pueblo Central blue.
Now in her senior season, she ranks fourth in the South-Central League in scoring with 12.6 a game and a league leading 5.1 steals a contest.
“Jocelyn also knows what kind of player she has to be that game,” Wildcats senior Abby Gridley said. “She knows if she has to be a shooter, she’ll take on that role. She knows if she has to be a passer if she’s not hitting her shot so it’s really nice to have her.”
Pueblo Central’s Jocelyn Marquez, right, takes a shot while Pueblo South’s Jada Dupree defends.Marquez has shown the ability to create her own shot using a bag of tricks she has in her ball handling, which also tends to open some lanes to the basket for an easy bucket.
When those lanes get clogged, Marquez has the vision to find her big post players in Gridley and Alicia Lest either cutting to the basket with her or spotting up near the hoop.
And she also has a flare with her passes to add that extra bit of energy when the play works out to perfection.
No better example came against Woodland Park on Dec. 17, 2019, when Marquez picked up a steal and stopped at the 3-point line on a breakaway only to flip a no-look pass behind her head to a streaking Wildcat for a wide-open layup.
“She gives everything, lays it on the line and its just incredible what she can do,” Pueblo Central coach Carlos Lopez said. “She wants to play at the next level and I believe she can. A lot of coaches run man-to-man, full-court pressure and she would be perfect for that because she’s all over the place, she’s an energizer bunny.”
Lopez said Marquez has received some looks from a couple junior colleges and thinks more looks can and should be coming the senior’s way soon, especially with the Wildcats trending up as a team in the RPI rankings.