With the new winter sports season coming in, the girls’ basketball team is looking to work hard during practices so they can compete during league play. To prepare for the season they held team weight-room sessions with the aim of becoming more competitive and stronger, as well as more explosive, during the season.
“I felt more prepared and less nervous for tryouts as I got back into basketball shape,” senior Quinnan Schafer said.
A crucial part of a successful team is having great team chemistry and for the members of the team to have each other’s back. This year one of the team’s main objectives is to further build their team’s connections and become more cohesive as a team.
“One of our main goals this year is to maintain and build team culture so we can create a foundation for the future,” head coach Ruby Buckley said.
One of the big games the team is looking forward to this season is against Roosevelt because the team has beaten them in the past and it’s normally a good game.
Another one they are looking forward to playing is Cleveland because the game last year was close. The team plays Roosevelt on Jan 13 and they play Cleveland on Feb 5. Both games last year were good, with the team only losing to Cleveland 39-34 and blowing out Roosevelt 60-39.
“These games are definitely going to be some of our most competitive games this season just because we are definitely pretty close in skill level with them,” senior post Izzy Hale said.
This year particularly the team is made up of mostly underclassmen with a few senior leaders.
Buckley spoke on building on the team’s young core and preparing for the future.
“We have a lot of 8th graders coming in next year, so we’re definitely going to be a younger team for the next few years,” Buckley said.
With the team being so young next year, the team has explored new ways to help develop its younger players.
“We brought in Coach Reid, who is gonna be a coach specifically for player development, and another assistant coach to help with player development as well,” Buckley said. “The team is focused on working really hard to develop new players.”
Some players to look out for this season are Hale and sophomore guard Amira Edwards. Buckley had some comments on what makes these players stand out.
“Izzy is a walking double-double and is a very sound player, and also Amira is playing most of our minutes right now and is scoring a lot,” Buckley said.
The team’s record is currently 2-2, which is one of the better starts the team has had in the past few years with the teams from 2023 and 2022 starting with an 0-4 record.
The team’s next game is against Grant on Jan. 16.
