The girls basketball team’s season will look different this year due to many changes caused by the pandemic. Their season was originally supposed to start Dec. 11 but was pushed back until after Christmas. There are also new regulations for the team such as wearing masks while playing in order to keep players and coaches safe. This being said, the players and coaches have high hopes for the upcoming season.

Last year’s season left them with a 15-9 record overall and 8-6 record in the conference. They also finished third overall and sadly lost a second-round playoff game to Carlynton by five points. A highlight of the season was beating the undefeated Mohawk team after being down by 17 points. They came back and took the game into overtime to win by four points. The team only lost two senior starters from last year, Myah Hrinko and Morgan Swab. They have 10 returning players and four new freshmen. These freshmen include Morgan Keller, Shaye Bailey, Cassidy Harris and Jenna Haskey. 

Masks are now mandatory for practicing, and many players are having trouble practicing  with them on. Masks help keep the players and coaches safe, but they end up making it hard for players to play to the best of their abilities during their games. This is another challenge they must face for this season. Not only have their games been pushed back, but their practices have also been limited to a number of hours during the week. With more time to practice due to the season being pushed back, the coaches have come up with a new offensive and defensive system and the players have been working hard to learn this. 

“We will use the extra time to get accustomed to wearing masks, if it will still be required to play games, work on fine-tuning the offensives and honing our defensive skills. We will do this in the hopes of winning the section this year,” head coach John Kaercher said.

With the season being pushed back and games being cut, the freshman players are losing some of their initial experience on the varsity team.  

“I was looking forward to playing all the games we had, but now our games just keep getting taken away which means we won’t have a lot of games. As a freshman you look forward to the games and how we are going to do and how much we will accomplish,”Bailey said. 

In addition, the pandemic has greatly affected seniors who play sports. They will be missing out on experiences they look forward to, like games, pre-game traditions and fully getting to know new teammates.

“Our season isn’t as long as it was last year, which is sad because I’m a senior, but I’ll be happy if we even have a season to begin with,” senior Karissa Mercier said. 

Even though this season, the girls basketball team must overcome many challenges because of COVID-19. They are still working hard and coming together as a team. The team has high expectations for their season and hopes to make it through to the playoffs. 

“We always stress we are like a family. We may not always get along or agree on everything, but family has a bond that holds them together, not divide them,’” Kaercher said.