On Saturday, Feb. 23, the girls varsity basketball team secured their first win of the season and beat Canterbury School 50-38.
Senior Co-captain forward Jane Dunbar said when reflecting on the season that her favorite game was against Canterbury, which was also her senior day. “My favorite part of the season was definitely the last game where we came back from being down 12 points,” she said, “and we made a huge comeback and won the game, and the crowd that was there stormed the court even though it was like 10 people it felt like so many more, which was really cool.”
Head Coach Quinn O’Brien said he was impressed with the team’s performance in this final game. “It made me proud the way they never gave up and fought until the last second of the game,” he said, “and ultimately got their first win on the last game ever for the seniors.”
Junior Co-captain shooting guard Angelina Maselli also said that the Canterbury game was her favorite to compete in because everything just came together. The team was down for the majority of the game but fought really hard in the fourth quarter to achieve a 12 point win. “My favorite game was for sure Senior Day and getting the win,” Maselli said. “It was back and forth all game and finally with only about a minute left in the game we just didn’t miss and were able to secure the win for our seniors.”
Freshman guard Natalia Correa agreed with her other teammates that Canterbury was her favorite game. She said that even though they struggled throughout the season they didn’t give up that game or lose hope in winning.
The team’s losing record of 1-22 does not show all of the great progress or accomplishments the team had off the court. “This season we always stayed positive and supported each other no matter what, which was hard because of our record,” Dunbar said. “But, we never gave up, and we fought through every game and worked hard and stayed super positive which made each game enjoyable even though they didn’t always go our way.”
Maselli also commented on how proud she is of the team for not letting their losses crush their moral. “I think throughout all the rough patches, we did a great job at staying as one team,” she said, “not splitting off or checking out. The chemistry was strong from November all the way to February.”
Dunbar said that one of her least favorite games was against Watkinson School on Monday, Feb. 11, when the Wyverns lost 71-33. “We played them after playing a ton of games in a row and right after a super close loss to Kent two days before, and we just weren’t mentally ready for that game,” she said.
Maselli said that she was disappointed with the end result of the Ethel Walker School game on Wednesday, Feb. 23. “My least favorite game was Ethel Walker,” she said. “We didn’t come ready to play. It was a team we could have competed with but didn’t bring the right energy.”
Senior center Madi Henry said that she is really proud of the team for working hard through adversity. “One thing we did really well was never giving up on each other or the season as a whole,” she said. “I am excited to see what the team is able to do next year and I am excited to come back and visit.”
Coach O’Brien is hopeful for the future of the program. “My hope for the future would be to continue the progress we made this year,” he said, “by coming back next year as a cohesive, hard working team that has more experience and is ready to take the next step forward in terms of learning how to complete games and ultimately have a better record and become a competitive program.
Maselli said that she is very hopeful to see what the team can do next year even though they are losing many seasoned players. “We graduated five seniors this year that have been influential in the program,” she said. “Although it’ll be tough, I’m excited to see what a team of ‘newer’ players can do. It will be different, but there is nothing I love more than KO hoops.”
