By Sam Conner The Winslow connections to a star athlete at Kingman High School are many. The athlete is Desirae Gonzalez. She is the daughter of Danny and Missy Gonzalez, who are teachers at Kingman High School and who have coached Desirae the past seven years in high school, junior high school and elementary school. Missy Betoney, now Missy Gonzalez, was one of Winslow High School’s top student athletes and was named an All American. She earned a basketball scholarship to Arizona State University and was the valedictorian of WHS in 1984. Danny Gonzalez played on the Bulldog basketball team that was the AA runner-up in 1982. He coached the Winslow Bulldog team that made it to the 2000 State Championship game and lost to Tuba City by two points. Desirae’s maternal aunt, Carol Betoney, was on WHS’s 1989 state championship team. Most of their extended family lives in Winslow or the surrounding area. Desirae has led Arizona high school girls’ basketball players in scoring each of the past two years with points per game averages of 29.7 last year and 27.7 this year. Her 2,255 career points score placed her 11th on the all-time scoring list. Her KHS team was 24-5 in her sophomore year and made it to the Division II quarterfinals. This year’s team had an excellent 23-6 record. A fractured bone in her foot during a late season volleyball game her freshman year caused her to miss half of the basketball season that year. During her four-year high school career she has averaged 23.5 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game. She has made 200 three-point goals, second all-time in Arizona Division III play to Winslow’s Lindsey Begaii’s 225. She has been named to the Arizona Division II All-State first team in her sophomore and junior years. Last year she qualified to participate in the Division II State Track Meet in shotput and discus, her first time competing in these events. She has been an excellent student in her high school career and has signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Nevada-Reno on a basketball scholarship, where she will play for the Lady Wolf Pack. (Editor’s note: Thanks to Julian Betoney, a 1977 graduate of WHS, for the information on this excellent athlete with roots in Winslow.)