Girls Basketball

As the girls basketball season quickly approaches, the team comments on their expectations and hopes this winter. Last season, the girls took a total of 19 wins, as well as making it to regional semifinals for the first time in a while. With Alyssa Ziehler being the top point scorer in the previous season, the class of 2023 intensely prepares for this upcoming season in order to rise to the standards set last year. Alicia Manning, girls varsity coach, has high hopes for this season. She prepared the girls by, “Using a lot of their off season to get everyone around each other as often as possible and bond, while putting some work in on the court.” 

When Manning was asked about rumors of the team recruiting players, she said this was a result of the team excelling while also pointing out that, “establishing ourselves as having a good program, this attracts more attention to us.” 

In addition to this, Manning mentioned, “Anytime a team is winning it seems like there’s a lot of chirping that they can’t just put in the work, get better, and improve, it has to be they are cheating.” 

The work ethic of the players and coaching staff result in their improvement, overall allowing for a great season. Mallory Oddo, senior and leader of the team on and off the court, earned an average of 3.3 points per game last season. Freshman, Ava Kouri, says, “The most helpful senior is Mallory, because if you do something wrong she won’t be mean about it, she’ll help you through it, and she’ll correct you. Mallory just makes you a better person and player.” 

This ties into Oddo’s leadership skills, even saying basketball influenced her as a person by, “making her become a leader.” In preparation for the quickly approaching season, Oddo and senior, Nina Shaffer, worked extensive hours and training. This was essential because Oddo and Shaffer’s hopes for the season are to advance as far as possible. Shaffer’s return to Green from CVCA allows her to lead with the girls she grew up playing with, while her biggest fear is playing her last game with her teammates of many years. In order to continue as far as possible, Shaffer says the team is, “Working to make it to states, and preparing our underclassmen. Because there’s six seniors, this is taking a lot of commitment from everyone.” 

With 6 seniors leaving at the end of this season, Ava Kouri states that her goal this season is to, “Earn a starting position on varsity.” Working towards this, Kouri is, “putting in the work, she goes to extra training, shoots on her own a lot, and just puts in so much time,” according to coach Manning. Overall, the 2022-23 season is predicted to go well. 

As a result of the girls strong work ethic and setting a good precedent for the season, they have already pulled out their first win in their scrimmage against Walsh and Westbranch on Wednesday.