La Salle’s varsity girls basketball team has undergone many changes this year. 

After many talented players graduated, the team initially struggled to adjust this year; however, they have now grown confident in their new roles, senior captain Ava Bergeson said.

“We only have two seniors this year, so this year [is] more of like a rebuilding year,” Bergeson said. “I feel like we’ve gotten past that point where we’re still trying to figure out how things work without all the seniors.”

This is reflected in the team’s scores as well. Despite a temporary slump — losing three games in a row — the Falcons have rebounded, winning their first three league matchups and climbing up to eighth in 5A with a record of eight wins and four losses. 

“We started off the season really strong,” Bergeson said. “We were 4-0, and then we played in two tournaments over winter break, and we had a little moment where we kind of broke down a little bit, but we bounced back from that.” 

Part of the team’s success can be attributed to their strong friendship and sense of community, players said. 

“It’s very second family type vibe, where it’s kind of just a big sisterhood,” junior Nora Hudson said. “We play basketball, and it’s competitive, but then it’s also like, we love hanging out with each other and the bond that we have really transfers onto the court.”

For Bergeson, this closeness is an important aspect of being on the team.

“Culture is a big thing for our program,” she said. “Traditions and things we do on game days, I feel like that really shapes our program and what it’s like to be on the team, and it’s just a very positive community.”

One of those traditions is an annual pre-season beach retreat. 

“We just have a weekend of team bonding, we have practice, we figure out who the team captains are and play a bunch of games,” Bergeson said. “That’s definitely what gets our season going … That really brings us together before our games start.”

The team also has a rigorous practice schedule. According to Hudson and Bergeson, practice happens five or six days a week, and they often focus on high-skill or high-intensity drills.

“If we have a game tomorrow, then our practice would typically be lighter, and we would do more scout stuff, like scouting their team, but if it was just a normal practice, we would do more high intensity drills where we’re running up and down the court, or getting lots of shots up too,” Bergeson said. “But we mainly focus on getting in shape and doing those drills that will get us in shape.”

The Falcons each have ambitious goals for the rest of the season. For Hudson, this means making the playoffs. 

“I want to make it to playoffs really bad,” she said. The team has made it to the playoffs in Hudson’s freshman and sophomore years, but were eliminated in the first round both times.

“I want to be able to make it past that first round, and maybe even have a home game,” she said. 

The last time the team had a home playoff game was the 2022-23 season, Bergeson’s freshman year, where they made it all the way to semifinals.

Bergeson has accomplishments she wants to achieve as well, with her goals for the team being “winning league, just getting better each game, and getting ready for playoffs too, and making a run in playoffs,” she said. “Those are our biggest goals.”

The Falcons play their next game on Thursday, Jan. 15 away against Rex Putnam High School at 5:30 p.m.