Photos by Elly Herrick, Editor-in-Chief
Article by Sophia Hysaw, Staff Writer & Opinion Editor
The sounds of cheers and clapping hands thunder throughout the gymnasium as the Indian Trail girls basketball team dribbles and passes their way to victory on the court. Although winning is the usual objective when it comes to sports, this year’s players reflect on how the connections and relationships formed are just as, if not more, important.
“I find that basketball is special because of the family-like atmosphere that we build. The combination of struggling together, winning together and seeing each other more than our own families during the season is really impactful,” said Indian Trail High School senior Grace Peltier.
Creating a collaborative and successful atmosphere is extremely important in basketball, players and coaches say. Although this can be difficult to achieve, learning how to better communicate on and off the court and forming relationships within the team is found to lead to a victorious team.
“I think so far the season has been good although we kind of went through a slump, but I think we came out of that. I believe from when we started from where we are now we improved at working as a team and communicating on the court,” Adrianna Gonzalez, Indian Trail sophomore, said.
Not only has the girls basketball team had a great season this year, but the players themselves have found that there is much more meaning to the game than just shooting 3-pointers.
“This team is special because we all love each other and we are like family. I feel safe and trust my team because we all have a really great bond and have each other’s back,” Gonzalez said.
Through this teamwork and perseverance, the team has had a season full with victories and good memories.
“My favorite memory this year was beating our rival St. Joes and the Carthage (College) tournament because that was a super close and intense game,” Peltier said.
Although it is important to win and have fun, there are always challenges along the way.
“A challenge for us is always the length of the season, always when February hits it’s difficult to find that motivation to come and work hard every day. We overall show up for each other and don’t want to let one another down,” Peltier said.
Despite the challenges, the players continue to push themselves and move forward working on their chemistry and consistency throughout the season. “I think so far the season has been good, although we kind of went through a slump, but I think we came out of that. I believe from when we started from where we are now we improved by working as a team and communicating on the court,” Gonzalez said.
“Overall we have had a really good session and are sitting in a good place. We hope to make a playoff run and continue to improve on our team chemistry,” Peltier said.
