With girls basketball season in full swing, four freshman varsity players are still adjusting with the shift from middle school basketball to high school basketball, playing on a team ranked #16 in the state in 5A. Mara Casey, Randi Thompson, Alyssa Nayar and Kailyn Lay have made the varsity team as freshmen which puts a lot of pressure on them to be playing with upperclassmen.

“High school is definitely more intense. It’s a big time commitment with being in the gym early in the mornings and staying late for open gym and games,” Casey said. “You have to have a passion for the game. Similar to middle school, you get to play the sport you love with the people you love and respect as your teammates. The level of competition definitely increases in high school, but that’s what makes it more exciting.”

While some freshmen may be intimidated by playing on varsity, the four freshmen are excited by the challenge.

“I like that I get to play against the highest level of competition,” Thompson said. “This has showed me not to take things for granted and that I am thankful for everything that is happening. My goal is to win district and hopefully make it to state.”

Nayar looks at the experience from a different perspective.

“Playing on varsity as a freshman means the girls you’ve been playing with instantly grow five inches and get twice as good,” Nayar said. “Learning to play at a higher skill level is hard to do in a few months but at the same time, an amazing feeling being a part of a team that beats the number one and two recruits in the nation so I definitely wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”

For head coach Ross Reedy there are both disadvantages and advantages of having freshmen on varsity.

“They’re not used to the work ethic. They’re not used to having a sense of urgency all the time,” Reedy said. “They are not used to the rigor of the work and it’s not physical work it’s also mental work. But sometimes they’re coming in and they’re playing, they have loads of confidence and for them to just come in and be hungry and they automatically think ‘hey i can do this’, so there’s a certain fearlessness that comes with being younger and playing on that level.”

Lay hopes this freshman four are helping to set the tone for the future of the basketball program.

“We’re the only four freshmen on the team,” Lay said. “We hope those coming into varsity basketball in the future are willing to work as hard as we do and work as a team.”