Varsity: 

The varsity team for OHS girls basketball has entered the court of championships in high spirits. They are more motivated than ever, and working diligently towards their goals. 

The team has experienced some changes this year, which has shifted their dynamics, impacting both the individual and team involvement.

“We have new rosters, new leaders, and new coaching staff so it’s a completely different program than last year and I think I have a different role in the program as well,” said McGuire Lennon, sophomore.

However, any changes or setbacks have not been able to deteriorate the team’s bond, and they are getting through it together.

“We have the team working together a lot closer especially with all the injuries we have faced and even having new coaching staff,” said Diya Venkat, senior.

With the loss of a few members, the team experienced a major setback. This has led to the coach returning to the basics that helped the team create a stronger bond than before. 

“We kind of lost how we play together as a team so our coach started pulling us back together and getting us back in the groove we started off this season strong,” said Taeja Bartee, junior. 

The team has been focusing on their offense, and has been working with members individually to create an effective plan that everyone is comfortable with. 

“Knowing how each individual plays so that we’re not putting someone out of their comfort zone [on] offense, and defensively we have been pretty strong,” Bartee said. 

The new varsity head coach, Charles Wilson, has successfully made his students not only  respect, but also admire him.  

“My coach goes really unappreciated sometimes. He puts in a lot of effort doing different stuff for us, and the time that he puts in is underappreciated,” Lennon said. “I think he deserves some recognition for that. There’s a lot of stuff behind the scenes that people don’t see he does for us.” 

No matter what happens, the team has a set focus and a goal that they want to accomplish, despite any issues  they may face. 

“At the end of the day, we have to continue to win to reach the goal we are still trying to get to, which is to get as far as we can in [the] playoffs,” Lennon said. 

JV-A:

The lack of freshmen this season has led to the creation of two JV teams. The JV-A team has had a rather successful season so far. They have done extremely  well together as a team, while still continuing to learn new abilities and skills. 

“We are doing really well, we work really well together, and we are still figuring out how to play together because we have a lot of new pieces this year too,” said Sanjana Karra, sophomore. 

The team has been extremely motivated, and is putting in the required effort to ensure their wins. They have also kept a positive attitude towards the outcomes of the games. 

“We really want to win so we are trying to put in the effort and practice and stuff so I think we are doing well this year,” said Emily Crawford, junior. “We lost a couple games but you’re gonna lose some.” 

They have been working on important skills, while still focusing on bonding with one another. 

“We have been working on things like ball handling, our chemistry, everything all together,” said Alana Gewargis, sophomore 

The team knows that they will play certain teams they have lost to again. This has given them the opportunity to reflect on their mistakes and prepare themselves better for the next time they face the teams. 

“Just sit down and practice and say ‘here is what we did wrong, here is how we fix it. Let’s beat them the next time we get them’,” Crawford said. 

A lot of the team members have been working on themselves in order to get to the next level. This has created a competitive and highly motivated environment. 

“We have a lot of people working to move up to varsity. Our practices are really competitive and everything because we are trying to get to the next level,” Karra said. 

Everyone on the team has their own individual capability, making it always something to look forward to. 

“We each have a lot of potential,” Gewargis said. “Be ready for next year.” 

JV-B: 

The JV-B team has been putting in a lot of effort in order to become more united and competitive as a team. 

“We are practicing a lot , trying to get ready for our games. We are focusing on bettering different aspects of ourselves, both as players and as friends and family on the court,” said Payton Clark, freshman. 

The team, however, is facing a lot of issues when it comes to communicating with each other. Fortunately, this issue is slowly resolving and the results can be seen on the court.  

“We’ve had communication issues a lot and we get angry with each other which is our issue but it’s working on the core. Our last few games we have had good communication. Good everything,” said Bella Wolf, freshman. 

To fix this issue, the team has been taking extra measures in order to overcome the communication gap, and create a stronger bond.

“We do things like team bondings to become closer, so we can work better as a team on the court, so we seem in sync more and work better,” Clark said. 

During their games, the team’s biggest issue is playing zones. After coming across teams that have mastered it, the team is paying extra attention to this particular offensive strategy. 

“Our biggest issue right now is working on getting the ball around and good passes, that’s pretty much our main issue right now,” Wolf said. “We are trying to figure out how to play zone right now. Offense against a zone and it’s work because we have played a lot of zone teams and they are very aggressive, and they know how to jump in and get passes and everything.”

Through challenges, the team have provided each other with a solid support group, and have matured as the season has progressed. 

“It’s really nice to have people in the same boat as you, so you can kind of share a new experience with them,” Clark said.