While being ranked #2 in OSAA along with an overall record of 21-3 this season, La Salle’s varsity girls basketball team is finishing strong after winning the state championship last season. 

The winter basketball season only lasts for four months; however, a large majority of the girls varsity team works year round in order to stay in shape. “They all work really hard in the off-season, which makes it nice for us as coaches when they come in and they’ve already been working on skill work,” coach Wedin said. 

Despite this hard work both on and off of the court, the team believes their true reason for success is teamwork.

“The only reason that we win is because we have good chemistry,” senior point guard and co-captain Emily Niebergall said.  

Throughout the entirety of her eighth season coaching basketball here at La Salle, varsity coach Kelli Wedin consistently makes sure that the culture and unity of the team remains a top priority. 

“We really pride ourselves on really valuing each other, respecting each other, [and] celebrating each other,” coach Wedin said. “I’m constantly reminding the girls to celebrate each other [and to] lift each other up not just when things are going well, but especially when things aren’t going well.”

Freshman Eliza Buerk believes this culture has more of a “family” feeling than that of a team, and she trusts her teammates to help her through any struggles she has. “Especially at La Salle, the girls basketball team has a really good bond … I know every single one of them is there for me,” she said.

Even when things get difficult, the team’s “family” mindset keeps the team from falling apart on the court. “If I’m down, or not doing well, for the most part, I think about my team … we have to have every single person having energy or somehow contributing if we’re going to win,” junior center and co-captain Addi Wedin said. 

One particular struggle for the team almost every year is their two games against their long time rival, Wilsonville High School. This year it was no different; however, the team still pushed through.

In their first game against Wilsonville, the girls fell short with a score of 47-52. “We kind of fell apart in the last four minutes of that [first] game. We crumbled, and we didn’t lift each other up,” Coach Wedin said. 

However, despite this initial loss, the team made a comeback during their game on Valentines Day and defeated Wilsonville with a final score of 65-55. 

Despite believing that chemistry is crucial for success, at times the team still finds it difficult to keep their energy levels high. “It’s a lot easier to bring everybody down than it is to bring everybody up,” Buerk said. Between the practices, games, stretching, icing, and rolling out, the team sometimes feels drained from all of the work. 

They particularly felt this weight when they lost to St. Patrick High School from California with a score of 31-43, as well as when they lost 38-50 to Cashmere High School from Washington.

Nevertheless, they continued pushing through exhausting two hour practices nearly every weekday and battling difficult competitors week after week because they have a clear goal set: winning state.

To accomplish this, the team must win against Ashland on Friday, March 6, in their first playoff game, which would advance them to Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon, where the state tournament is held. Then, they must win during the quarterfinals and semifinals taking place on March 10 and March 12. The final championship game will be on March 13. 

“We want to see 2020 girls basketball state champions, that’s their big goal,” coach Wedin said.