From long school days of learning to laborious practices afterward, hours upon hours of dedication is built up to create the girls varsity basketball team. Strong friendships, life lessons and many memories have been cherished so far through the season.

The team has had a rough start, being 4-12, but they still are holding onto hope that they will work their way up to districts and possibly participate in state.

“Our record does not necessarily show the work we are putting in,” assistant coach Jon Swanson said. “We are hoping now that as we have turned the corner to the later part of the season, all of that stuff will come together.”

The team has had a difficult schedule, playing some of the more rigorous teams in Class A. However, they enjoy the challenge because it lets them play the best of the best and see how they can handle it.

“All of our practices are a lot of defense, and it has been paying off,” senior Emma Martin said. “We complain about it a lot, but you can definitely tell that our defense has gotten a lot better and we are actually keeping up with teams that we did not think we could.”

Practices this year for the team have been brutal. They have been working on defensive skills, pressing and running. In years past, if things were not done right it would sometimes slide away. This year, the coaches are aiming toward perfection in practice hoping that it will follow onto the court.

“We have had some injuries that have made some of our players step up who maybe were not thinking they would get as much of a prominent role,” Swanson said.
So far this season there has not been one game with a full string. Many injuries and illnesses have occurred throughout the season that have put a wrench in the roster of starters.

“When you coach it is not just because of the sport, but it is because you know that there are great life lessons that come with it, adversity, and working as a team,” Swanson said. “So our goal is to always kind of help bring the girls along so they learn some of those life lessons as well as have some fun and then, ultimately, win some games.”

Winter sports tend to have a longer season than fall and spring sports. Senior Ava Boyce said she is glad that they are all friends and get along together really well, which makes the sport even better.

“As always the main goal is to get to Lincoln,” Swanson said. “We want to play in the state tournament, and one nice thing about Class A is that that is still in front of us. That is kind of a final trip just as a reward for the season.”

The team traveled a lot early in the season having a scarce amount of home games. As the season slowly wraps up, more home games will occur which makes the team hope that it will help them win more games.

“Our record is not the greatest, but I do think that we have had improvements throughout the season and we have gotten a lot better defensively,” senior Lexi Cerone said.

The team is also trying to get to 500 total points at the end of the season. They have not reached this in a couple of years and hope to be able to accomplish the goal.

“When you get into coaching, part of it is to put the puzzle pieces together to try to have the most success you can and we have been working on putting that puzzle together,” Swanson said.

There have been some ups and downs so far in the season, but with each and every day the team continues to flourish. As they move throughout the season, they keep making memories and learning endless amounts of lessons that they will use in the future.