By Jessica Butler, Erin Mitchell & Tiffany Nogoy
Gladiator
Troy HS
1st Place
Division 2, Yearbook
Sports Feature Writing
After playing basketball together for several years, the senior girls on the varsity team prepared to part ways at the end of the season.
“Rachel [Grecky, 12], Alyssa [Grecky,12] and I have been playing together since we were in fourth grade, and I started playing with Maggie [Margaret Bohr, 12] freshman year,” varsity player Olivia Braun, senior, said. “It’s definitely sad to think that we all won’t be together next year. The best part is how close we all are. We always hang out on the weekends and keep in touch constantly.”
The basketball girls spent time together on and off the court. They had a tradition of hanging out and eating at Buffalo Wild Wings after their games.
“We usually go out to eat after our Friday games,” varsity player Brittany Crego, senior, said. “We normally go to B-Dubs or Red Robin. I feel like hanging out outside of basketball brings us closer as teammates.”
Another way the seniors spent time together off the basketball court was by making Mario-Kart themed Halloween costumes featuring characters like Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Waluigi and Wario.
“All the of the seniors on the varsity team decided that we should dress up as the characters from Mario Kart this Halloween,” Crego said. “We made our outfits out of cardboard boxes and paint in the Greckys’ basement and wore them to school together. I was Waluigi.”
The seniors welcomed all of the new players to their team. This included varsity player Megan Lenihan, sophomore, who was the only underclassman on the varsity basketball team.
“The seniors made me feel extremely welcomed by always giving me pep talks before all of the games and by being overall great teammates and amazing leaders for me,” Lenihan said.
Varsity player Amanda Azar, junior, was also new to the varsity team.
“The seniors welcomed me with big smiles and open arms,” Azar said. “I’m really sad to see them go. All of our smiles and laughs won’t be the same next season without them with us.”
The assistant girls basketball coach Melissa McAward left along with the seniors at the end of the season.
“I’m really sad to see our assistant coach leave because she has been a great role model for everyone on the team,” Lenihan said.
McAward was the assistant coach for three years.
“She’s helped improve all of my basketball skills because she always has advice to give me when I’m struggling on how to better my game,” Braun said. “She’s so close to our age that we can easily talk to her about anything. I’ve gotten really close to her over the past three years and this is her last year. It is really sad to think she won’t be here when we come back to visit.”
After playing basketball for so long, some players felt it would be hard to adjust after the season ends.
“It’s really sad to think about almost being done with high school basketball,” Braun said. “This team has been like a family and it’s going to be weird to go home after school instead of practice and wake up in the summer and not have to go to open gyms. I’m really going to miss it a lot.”
Despite this being their last year together as a team, they enjoyed spending the season making a lot of new memories with their fellow seniors and the rest of the players on the team.
“My favorite memory would have to be just playing with my teammates and knowing that they always encourage me and others even in tough situations,” Crego said.