After around three months of training and games, the girls varsity basketball team’s season is nearing the finish line as league play concludes and playoffs approach.
“You’re practicing three hours a day, and it’s hard, but it’s definitely worth it,” senior Lindsey Kapanoske said, adding how it’s significant because of the “best friends” one makes in playing the sport.
Junior Meklit Wondwossen said the team loves each other like sisters, and, win or lose, they are there for each other.
“We’re a lot like a family,” Kapanoske said. “Some days we fight and maybe we don’t want to be around each other, but all families are like that, and we always have each other’s backs.”
So far, the team has been successful, currently ranked second in their conference with a 12-2 record in league play, with Wilsonville High School being responsible for both losses.
According to Wondwossen, one of their best performances was their game against Adrienne C. Nelson High School, ending with an unexpected score of 45-41. She said that they went into the game with “nothing to lose — like underdogs,” yet still managed to secure a victory by four points.
Additionally, although ending in a 64-46 loss, the team also showed up in the third quarter of their game against Wilsonville on Tuesday, March 4, junior and co-captain Ava Bergeson said.
“It was our best quarter all season and we were all really proud of ourselves,” she said.
Despite their league record, the team has overcome a lot of adversity alongside their success, enduring seven losses out of the 11 preseason games they played.
Additionally, the team has had to combat injuries. “It really can take a toll on us individually, but we always stick together,” she said. “That’s what really helps us.”
On March 7 at 6 p.m., the Falcons will head into playoffs, their first game being on the road against Redmond High School. Consistency will be the key for the team’s success.
“We’ve always had good starts and then really rough finishes, or bad starts and then really good finishes,” Wondwossen said. “We really need…consistent games where we’re constantly playing good all four quarters.”
Wondwossen is excited for the playoffs. “I love these girls, and I really want to play for them,” she said. Additionally, however, she is nervous: “It’s win or go home,” she said. “We’re really just trying to push through, and it kind of fuels us to play better.”
Another important task for the Falcons will be sticking together. “We know that we can compete with anybody,” Kapanoske said. “We have to play the game and not think so much about getting everything perfect.”
This year, four Falcons, three of which are starting, will be concluding the last season of their high school career. Without them, it will be “really weird, because they’re a really big core of our team,” Wondwossen said.
Next year’s team will have to adjust to the loss of current seniors by filling their roles. “I think that we’re pretty good at that, and we’re all really flexible,” Bergeson said.
Despite challenges that might present themselves as the seniors depart, Bergeson believes that the team will still be successful next year. “We’re a pretty young team and a lot of us have had a lot of basketball experience,” she said.
She’s looking forward to “another great season.”
