Boys and Girls Varsity Basketball Win Senior Night Home Games
March 4, 2022
The boys and girls varsity basketball team won their games against Shawnee Mission East in the home gym on senior night, Feb. 22. The final score for the boys was 62-52, the girls taking the win with a score of 49-44.
“Over these past couple years, every time we play Shawnee Mission East, it’s like a really close game,” senior Alexis Newman said. “I knew it was gonna come down to the last couple minutes and that’s what happened, but luckily, we were able to pull through and win the game.”
This was assistant coach Jami Hodge’s first year being a part of the team. This year she was able to see how the girls play together and their strengths.
“They really get along, they buy-in and they help each other out,” Hodge said. “They’re great teammates on and off the court, which I think is a great family atmosphere and feeling especially when we are in practices and in-game situations.
The girls move to compete in the playoffs and hope to advance and make it to the top, according to Hodge.
“I was super excited to go out, it’s our last home game, so it’s a big deal that we went and ended out on a win,” senior Kendall Starcevich said. “We were undefeated at home this year so that was our biggest goal to finish that off so I was really glad that we won this last game.”
Senior night was the time to recognize the players who were the leaders of the team and to be an example for the younger players. This was the last home game for both teams in the regular season.
“I always know that the girls are gonna come out and give it their all, it’s really important on a senior night that we dedicate and go out and bust our butts for the seniors,” Hodge said. They did a lot to get this program headed in the right direction, so this game was all for them.”
The boys were up in points most of the game. According to head Coach Bradley Ball, the boy’s strengths were shooting the ball well and building a lead as well as doing a good job defensively despite a little bit of nervousness.
“Unfortunately, we’re probably not going to get a home playoff game, but it’s really nice when you can win your last one at home and have all these good memories, they’ve [seniors] worked really hard for us it goes by in a blink of an eye,” Ball said. “It seems like just yesterday they were little ole freshman boys, but now they’re getting to be grown men, and it’s exciting to see where the next step may be for them, hopefully, we can play hard in the playoffs and give ourselves a chance.”
A player that stood out to Ball was senior Brisyn Robinson. Despite being in foul trouble, that in some ways helped because in the second half he was really fresh and did a good job handling the basketball and making some plays.
“The team got in some foul trouble, but the bench went in and did their job, kept us up, and did their job to make sure that when we went back in we weren’t in a hole, once the normal first five,x six went back in we were able to just take control of the game,” Robinson said.
Ball stated that the boys played really hard and handled themselves pretty well.
“The highs were definitely the second quarter, we played really good as a team, hitting shots and all that stuff,” senior Maikai Blakeney said. “In the fourth quarter we just had to seal the deal, and we did.”
