Last season the girls varsity basketball team finished with an overall record of 5-18 and a district record of 2-14, finishing 7th out of eight teams. After graduating 3 seniors and a few players transferring out, many people were expecting that the worse was yet to come.
Despite these limitations placed on the girls, this season they’ve jumped out to an early 1-2 record. They start the season with 4 non-conference games. The Atoms lost to non-con opponent Mountain View, and Fairfax but defeated Gar-Field.
The solo 37-31 victory was spurred by rising star Junior, Megan Murray’s 23 points. Murray, who nearly outscored the Red Wolves by herself, scored the majority of her points from beyond the arc, draining a flurry of three pointers. Draining an impressive 4 three-pointers from deep, Murray showed everyone the girls offseason workouts were definitely effective and helpful.
Although the season has just started, “We have to adjust to the smaller rotations because we only have 9 players this year,” said Murray. “There are much less breaks and some players have to play the full game.”
The girl’s roster may be lacking depth, but not talent nor effort. “Everyone is giving 100% effort every game to make it competitive, whether its a win or a loss,” expressed Murray.
The culture surrounding this young roster is impressive. All the girls recognize that stacking good practices on top of each other is crucial for improving. Staying focused at practice and always picking each other up are a few examples of this new and revamped program.
Senior and captain, Salma Sherif always reminds her teammates, “Everyday we show up we get better and our hard work doesn’t go unnoticed,” stated Sherif.
What’s noticeably special about this roster is the camaraderie. “I try my best to support my teammates even when they make mistakes and even when I’m having a bad game they don’t bring me down,” stated Murray. “I make sure to give them opportunities on the court.”
Regardless the sport, having confidence in teammates is vital to success and friendships both on and off the court. Murray displays her maturity and cognisance of this making her a strong candidate for captain next season.
Although this is a very young team and only rosters 3 seniors, the senior leadership is still very present. “I want to leave the returning players something to look up to,” expressed Sherif.
For Sherif, “A successful season for us would obviously be winning most of our games but mostly defined by how hard we play and the memories and moments we leave with,” noted Sherif.
This year the girls are looking to capitalize on their youth. With lots of underclassmen on the team this is a perfect year for gaining valuable experience and adapting to the pace of varsity games. Handling the pressure and chants from student sections are also a severely overlooked aspect of inexperienced players’ performances. A loud student section’s goal is to always pester the opposing team and influence their decision making.
“I personally want to get more confidence with my choices and gameplay because I feel like I could improve myself and the team,” indicated Murray.
Even though this season might be a struggle record wise, the future is definitely bright as our girls can expect to return 6 varsity players, all whom would have gained experience and adapted to the varsity pace of play, pressure, and expectations.
Our girls finish up there beginning of season non-con play with a home game vs Independence on December 19th. Come show up and support our fellow Atoms as they look to start the season strong with a win. Show up, be loud, and have fun!
You can stay up to date with all news, content, and updates by following the @atomsgbb Instagram page.
