In their last game of the regular season, the girls basketball team (11-12, 6-8) fell to Emerson (22-12, 11-3) 78-38 at The Nest.
“[What made this game difficult was] definitely the size of the players,” head coach Mykaela Alfred said. “Also the pressure and their physical ability to score.”
According to sophomore Harper Johnson, the team was able to stay calm even when faced with challenges.
“I think some challenges we saw [at the game against Emerson] were struggling to get the ball up the court,” Johnson said. “But we still regrouped as a team and got our heads on straight to make smarter passes instead of just throwing straight to Emerson.”
Despite the loss, players and coaches believe that the team has grown tremendously in Alfred’s first season as head coach. They’ve changed their playing style, adopted new strategies, and switched their lineup throughout.
“Over the course of the season, we grew with our unselfish play and passing and sharing the ball with each other,” Alfred said. “We did a good job at finding what we are good at and what to perfect. Our character and culture also grew.”
Johnson looks back on the season by pointing out where they saw success and where they didn’t when it came to the team’s mindset.
“What was really effective was going in with a mindset that we were going to win,” Johnson said. “When we went in with our head down, we didn’t do so well. And when we did win, we were very hyped.”
The team sees a chance to turn things around in their upcoming playoff game against Wakeland (30-5, 13-1) Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Lebanon Trail.
“Some of the keys for success for the next game would be handling pressure, attacking against it, and knowing and being able to play assignments,” Alfred said.
Continuing about the importance of mindset, Johnson reveals that maintaining a calm mindset is especially important against the Wolverines.
“We need to make sure we use our reversals a lot because they’re a very aggressive team,” Johnson said. “We need to stay calm and collected and not make any small mistakes that we would have in the past.”
