Girls’ Basketball Scores a Spot in States
On March 10, the girls’ basketball team’s successful season lead them to win first round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Championships against Mifflinburg’s team with a score of 51 to 32.
The game was played at Shikellamy high school at 7:30 p.m. on March 10.
This win put the girls’ basketball team in the top 16 teams in the state.
This was the first time in our school’s history that the girls’ basketball team won a PIAA Championship game.
“If you would have asked freshmen me if I would have seen this coming, then I would have said no way. Going to States far exceeded all of our expectations. It was an amazing opportunity to go and I’m very thankful,” said senior Rachel Locke.
“We had a great bunch of girls from the varsity to junior varsity [teams], including our managers. They were a lot of fun to work with and I’m PROUD of every one of them,” said head coach Robert Rudisill.
The team moved on to the second round of the PIAA Championship at Garden Spot high school on March 14.
The team lost to Berks Catholic high school’s team with a score of 41 to 32, ending their season.
Despite this one loss, the girls’ basketball team had an amazing season, finishing with 15 wins and 13 losses total.
“It was a great season. We made huge improvements from last year and we are still young,” said Rudisill.
The team had some big successes this season, winning the Big Spring Holiday Tournament, and reaching the play-offs at the county, district, and state levels.
A major success was early in the season when the team took a win from Eastern York Senior high school’s girls’ team, boosting morale.
“That was a big win for us and it proved that we could compete with and beat the better teams in our division,” said Rudisill.
These successes this year can be attributed to some of the team’s strengths that weren’t as prominent in previous years.
“As a team, I believe we were very unselfish and worked very hard all season. Our coaches also made it about more than just the game, which allowed for us to bond and become a lot closer,” said junior Megan Halczuk.
The coaches focused heavily on helping the team create this bond.
“Our head coach tells us to think of our team as a pack of geese. We want to take off and keep soaring together. I felt that we kept improving as the season progressed and finding that next gear and battling tough in almost every game,” said Halczuk.
While some of the girls on the team believe the family dynamic is working, not every girl agrees.
“As a whole, we try to act like a family but in some families there are favorites. That made an unspoken division. There were girls who worked extremely hard on and off the floor but were seriously undermined and undervalued. It did cause more girls to compete but positive communication between players stilled lacked. I still think our girls program has steps it needs to take to make that positive and competitive culture many of our coaches and our sports director strive to make,” said Locke.
There are always technical ways for the girls to improve as well.
“We need to continue to get better at shooting the basketball. We shot a lot better than last year, but we still need to improve our shooting– from everywhere. We need to shoot better from three, from mid-range and from the foul line,” said Rudisill.
With this season ending, the team is already focusing on how to be better for next year.
“We need each player to work on getting better. Then as a group, we need to continue to build a positive chemistry,” said Rudisill.
Improvements for next year won’t have to begin with a brand new team, as there was only one senior that will be graduating and leaving the team, Locke.
She wants to leave the team with this piece of advice, “Raise your teammates. No matter what sport you are involved with. Challenge them to work, because then they will challenge you. Encourage each other, have positive communication, and support each other. Keep soaring,” said Locke.