As the 2025 sports winter season has officially come to an end, the girls basketball team has produced a hopeful new chapter in what is predicted to become a skilled, competitive team within the 6A league.
Not only were they able to adjust to a brand new coaching staff with head coach Ruby Buckley and assistant coaches Erik Wentela and Hennisha Dizer, but they managed to increase their wins and statistics from the previous 2023-2024 season with solely two teams: Varsity and JV.
Because of this, dramatic changes were made, ranging from positioning to plays, to playing time, and even coaching methods. Unlike the previous few years of girls basketball, JV2 teams (primarily freshmen) were present with higher numbers of swingers and firmer position playing. As of this last season, over 10 substitutes sat on the bench during Varsity games, and many were playing new positions altogether, including seniors.
Nonetheless, a new flow has developed after a rocky start as the team managed to find a more fitting rhythm, explained senior Simone Pedersen, a former player who worked closely with the coaching this year. “It’s like riding a bike kinda, it’s hard to do, then once you get it down it’s there forever.”
While there is progress to be made, a hope to continue the upward trend in wins, statistics, and team spirit feels promising.
“For our first game of the season, we shot 16 percent from the field…[now] they’re averaging 35 percent from the field,” Pedersen stated. Along with personal stats like rebounds, assists, and points, the team came with seven final wins throughout the season, significantly better than the season of 2024, with three wins total.
Yet, Pedersen wasn’t the only one who felt a shift on the court this season. Both senior captain Princess Fletcher and sophomore Azure Alderman expressed noticeable differences in the players’ attitude towards basketball compared to last season, after building new relationships and community bonding.
“I’ll definitely say it took us a little while for us to like, figure out if we wanted to…put in the extra work or push each other to be better or just want to be here to be here,” Fletcher said.
In contrast, Alderman shared similar feelings in regards to attitude, in also expressing more communication from teammates; primarily our captains Fletcher and returning captain, senior Anna Gladwin. Despite different leadership styles, the two found a way to put together their strengths, and share with the team in a more uniteful sense.
As of the next upcoming seasons with Coach Buckley and gifted underclassmen, the girls basketball program is expected to become incredibly more competitive with other PIL teams, only going up from here. Questions around having a third team are still up in the air and likely to not be known till next school year, but a new era has begun, with a new found devotion for the uprising of Mcdaniel girls basketball.
“I have faith in this program. I have faith in this team. I think in a couple years time…they’re gonna be really good,” Pedersen said.
