As the basketball season comes to an end, many of the players reflect back on the games, practices, and the memories of playing basketball during this weird season. But just like the COVID restrictions, the basketball teams stayed strong.

Most of the players on the team have been playing all through high school, if not longer. Senior Maddie Tice has been playing since first grade. When she was young she would watch her father and brother play and she would try to join in. 

“I started going to his practices and games and fell in love with the sport,”  she said.

Maddie isn’t the only player who watched and played with her family. Senior Sara DeHaas has been playing since eighth grade and has early memories of the sport.

“[I] always remember shooting around with my pap when I was little, so when I had the chance to play I went.” 

Although basketball can be intimidating and is a lot of work, most of the players would recommend playing if you have any interest at all. 

“People that are considering playing, I say do it. We have so much fun during the season and you learn a lot, and we have the best coaches that care about us and the program,”  junior Gannon Brungard said. 

Even though the team has had some rough spots, they have also had many accomplishments. 

“Definitely getting the 500 win against P-O. And just the fact that we have been ok to play, with the funky season with covid and everything going on,” Sara said. 

The girls basketball coach, Marcus Toomer, however believes that there is more than one big accomplishment. 

“Over the past couple of years, this team has beaten Penns Valley for the first time in 9 years and has beaten Central for the first time in 12 years. They were part of the 500th win in program history and made it to district playoffs for three consecutive years. This team has accomplished a lot and it has been such an honor to be on this journey with them,” Coach Toomer said. 

Although this year wasn’t the ideal year, the players managed to have had fun and made the best out of the current situations. Some of the players plan on continuing to play after high school, but even if they aren’t, the players, like senior Lily Gardner “highly recommend playing the game a bit longer before you have to live the adult life.”