Tryouts for girls’ varsity basketball ended on Thursday, November 9th.

“I wasn’t certain I would make varsity, but I was happy when I did,” Junior Sarah Shamdeen said.

Along with Shamdeen, junior Jayla Irvin has played on varsity since her freshman year and continues to play on the team this year.
Senior Elizabeth Corcoran played on the JV team freshman and sophomore year, and played varsity junior year. This year, she has once again made the varsity team due to her hard work during green days and the offseason.

“We have a solid group of girls, solid seniors and talented juniors highlighted by Sarah Shamdeen and Jayla Irvin,” Coach Jimmy Brown said.

Shamdeen and Irvin stayed in shape before the season by playing AAU basketball. Irvin described it as travel basketball that helps college scouts see players.
Corcoran played travel softball and shifted to running once school started. This year, all winter sports are selling raffle tickets. Each raffle ticket costs five dollars, and prizes include a 50” LED HDTV, a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre, a laptop, and a $25 Visa Gift Card.

“This fundraiser will benefit more than past ones because the prizes are an incentive to get a ticket,” Corcoran predicted. Brown believes the team will need a great deal of improvement this year.

“After each season, you have to evaluate yourself as a coach,” Brown said.

“I gave myself a C- last year. We were out of shape, did not handle pressure well and did not throw it inside enough. I did a poor job last year.”

Shamdeen also said that they will need to improve on shooting the ball. Furthermore, Irvin said last year was difficult due to many players being injured, including herself. Shamdeen hopes that the team will have a winning season and Irvin also hopes to win more games and stay healthy while doing it.
“Our goal this year as a team is to take away the other team’s 2 best players,” Corcoran said.

“So, it’s 3 on 3 instead of 5 on 5. We also hope to outscore our opponents in all 4 quarters.”
Brown also hopes to lead the area in 3’s made.
When prompted on his advice for the team this year, Brown said that their theme is “Last year is in the past, this season could be a blast.”

He explained that each day he tells the team about a college or professional team that improved the next season such as 1999 Rams, 2001 Patriots, or 2017 Minnesota Golden Gophers.