It's hard to imagine April Semler, the Manzano High girls basketball team's sturdy, 5-foot-9 1/2 senior power forward, as a squirt of a toddler. But, to set the stage, try, if you will.

"She was real little, probably a year and a half, 2 years old when I first noted how aggressive she is," said her mother, Kristie Semler. "I scared her when I came around a corner when she was standing right by the door. Most kids would have screamed or ran away. But she started swinging. I thought, wow, this kid's a little warrior."

April Semler, an Yrisarri resident, has always followed her own path. Her older siblings, Colee and Jacob Semler, now respectively 29 and 25, were soccer players for the Monarchs.

"She was always the big kid," Joe Semler, her father, said. "It's exciting for us. She's my youngest. This is the last year that Kristie and I will be able to watch one of our kids play."

April Semler gravitated naturally to basketball.

"I didn't quite fit in in soccer," said Semler, who also plays club hoops with the Albuquerque Suns. "I could play goalkeeper, and I was a good goalie. But I liked basketball better."

Semler, after seasons of playing on a Manzano team that didn't quite cut the postseason mustard, is now with a unit that has real potential. And she's an important starting cog in what, so far, has been a successful season for the 10th-ranked Monarchs, who are off to an unprecedented 13-3 start.

Manzano also had a good beginning in District 5-5A play. The visiting Monarchs, with Semler scoring a game-high 14 points, defeated Highland 57-42 in both teams' initial district contest on Tuesday night.

Semler — who provided her usual contributions, lustily grabbing rebounds and going to the hole with fearless abandon — took on an additional, somewhat unlikely role at guard. She did well at the job, but she did it differently.

While the other guards, like fellow Monarch Rebecca Sanchez, used their speed and spin moves to make their way through the Hornets' defensive pressure, Semler would pound the ball up the middle of the court as if warning her opponents to stay out of her way. Then, if they did garner enough nerve to collapse on her, she would use her height to locate an open teammate downcourt.

"I was nervous about playing guard," she admitted afterward. "I was worried about dribbling."

Semler's scoring included an 8-for-10 performance from the free-throw line. She also got two buckets in the third quarter on a baseline drive punctuated by a 180-degree twirl and, from the low post, a turn followed by an up-and-under move, the latter field goal accompanied by a free throw for a traditional 3-point play and a 45-24 lead with about 2:30 left in the period.

"I've always wanted to do my best," said Semler, who has a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average. "I think I got that from my dad. My mom, too, but she wants me to do my best in school."

Manzano first-year coach De'Mone Curry is doing something right with this group. And he is pleased with his team's outing on Tuesday.

"I think the girls did well in the face of adversity with their (usual) point guard going down," the coach said. "Rebecca Sanchez, April Semler and Tina Jones stepped up at guard. And if Ty Romero keeps shooting jumpers (including a pair of treys) like that, we'll be OK. And the bench played well."

The "adversity" Curry referred to was the absence of starting senior guard Chelsy Kitcheyan, who is in her first year at Manzano after transferring from Highland. The team's master ball-handler injured her left knee during the Monarchs' 36-31 nondistrict home loss to sixth-ranked Cibola on Jan. 14.

Kitcheyan said she is scheduled to get an MRI this week.

"I think we've adjusted well in (Kitcheyan's) absence," said Semler, who also led the field with 13 points versus Cibola. "But it'll mean more practice."

Semler is forceful on the court. But that doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy herself.

During the game at Moriarty (a 57-24 win on Dec. 19), she sincerely apologized to the referee for "fouling too much." The official, for the only time in the game, couldn't help but smile.

She would like to give basketball a go in college as well.

"I'm going to see if I can't get a scholarship, but if not, I'm going to go to UNM," said Semler, who is considering pursuing a degree in business or nursing. "If I do get a scholarship, that would be great, but I'm not going to be all heartbroken if it doesn't happen."

Manzano also beat West Mesa 63-38 in a nondistrict game on the Purple Pride's court on Saturday.

Semler has also lettered in tennis.

"But I do tennis just to get tanned," she said with an impish grin.

Manzano boys

The sixth-ranked Monarchs (12-5) fell 51-37 to Highland (14-3) in both teams' district opener at Manzano on Tuesday. Monarchs senior Jordan Llamas of Carnuel scored 11 points against the Hornets, which were tied for fourth in the polls with Las Cruces Mayfield.

Manzano defeated visiting Santa Fe High 52-46 in a Class 5A nondistrict game on Friday.

Up next

Manzano girls host Los Lunas, today, 7 p.m.

Manzano boys at Los Lunas, Friday, 7 p.m.