Girls+Basketball+2015-2016

Beeeeeep!

The buzzer goes off, and we all turn to look at each other with shock on our faces. The scoreboard reads 36-25. And for once we had the highest score. We hug each other, huge smiles on our faces, as we go to shake Williston’s hands. We have only experienced this feeling once before during a tournament last year, when we beat a team with one injured player and no subs.

That’s right. Last year the Hunt Girls A-team won exactly one game out of about twenty. To this day we don’t really understand why we lost every game. We certainly came close a few times. Maybe there was a lack of teamwork, or fundamental skills. Maybe the other team wanted the win more, or maybe we just stopped believing we could. It doesn’t matter anymore though.

That first game told us everything we needed to know. We were gonna be that team. That team that all the others talked about. The team that nobody wanted to play, and everyone was scared of. Nobody knows exactly what changed. Maybe the other teams lost their good eighth graders, or maybe we got some good new players. Maybe after already having a year together, we were working better as a team, or maybe we just picked up on the fundamentals.

Our coach from last year, Emily Jones, came back and gave us a second chance, for which we were all grateful. After leading the Hunt girls to three straight undefeated seasons, (minus one game when she was sick), when she was a student in middle school, she continued on to Rice where she had a full scholarship for basketball. From Rice she was scouted by Anna Maria college in Massachusetts. She stays in touch with basketball by playing in the Vermont Women’s League for Basketball, and of course coaching us.

“Us” this year, refers to ten great players who come from all different levels of basketball: **Ella Decelles, Grace Mazza, Hannah Hershberg, Emma Larivee, Hailey Marin, Hailey Walker, Kale, Dasha Jaentske, Bety Mayani, and Maggie Barlow**. of these players play on a local Mini Metro team. The rest participate in no extra basketball leagues, but still bring athleticism and in some cases accidental entertainment to the game. Our record is currently 4 wins against Williston, Hinesburg, Mater Christi, and Brownsriver, and one loss to Shelburne. The record is identical to the Hunt Boy’s A-team, who are also 4 and 0. Coincidentally, the Boy’s A-team was amazing last year, overflowing with talent and skill supplied by the eighth graders, one of which was recruited to Rice this year. Although they are still decent, they are not nearly as fun to watch as last year, and a lot of their games have resulted in close scores. It’s as if we flip-flopped; we had a bad year last year, and the boys are having a bad year this year. Here is a video of our practice at BHS, after our win against Edmunds.

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In addition to being happy with our season this year, we were all delighted to meet Will or Big Willy as he is now known to us. Will is a student that our coach works with every day at his school in South Burlington. We consider him our mascot, and love it when he comes to games to cheer us on. His family generously donated eleven “Big Willy” t-shirts to our team designed by none other than Will himself. To give back to Will and others with special needs, the team is going to volunteer at Star Basketball on January 16. Star basketball is a program centered at the Racket’s Edge in Williston that pairs special needs basketball players to basketball players in the community. We are more than happy to pay Will back for all his support and enthusiasm involving our team. He has made this winning streak even more fun for all of us.

Written by Hannah Hershberg and Maggie Barlow Video taken by Coach Emily Jones