At this point in the season, some may call the Varsity girls Basketball team a work in progress. What else would you expect from a very young team that doesn’t have much experience at the varsity level? As of press time, the Knights are 0-6 on the season, with their latest loss coming at the hands of their district rivals from Howell, the Vikings. The final score, 44-56, may indicate a loss for the Knights, but the game was viewed as a building block by the players.
“We came out a lot stronger in the beginning than we usually do,” senior starter Erin Powelson said. “We’re usually more of a second half team. When we start off slow, we dig ourselves a hole, and we can’t come back from it, but when we start off stronger, we have a lot more confidence, which will help us beat teams instead of having to come back from being down.”
The Knights got a huge lift from senior captain Emma Nicolli in Tuesday’s game at Howell. Nicolli came out firing on all cylinders, putting up a career-best 30 points in the game.
“I felt so confident,” Nicolli said. “It felt like no matter what I did, it was going to be the right thing to do.”
This increase in offensive production is a step in the right direction, according to the players. They feel that if they get the taste of winning this year, they will settle for nothing less. In other words, one win could set the wheels in motion.
“We’ve been trying to win since we started,” sophomore Madison Gillam said. “I think getting a win in any game will get us going.”
The Knights look to get their gears turning tomorrow night, Dec. 15, at Warrenton. Powelson feels like this could be the day that their season flips 180 degrees.
“I think tomorrow we’ll definitely make a huge turnaround,” Powelson said. “I feel like if we experience what a win feels like, then we’ll want that so much more because we won’t want to settle for anything less.”