On Wednesday, January 22, the crowd in Gowan Court cheered loudly as the girls varsity basketball team fought against the Taft Rhinos. Even though the team lost 20-47, Taft’s win didn’t come easy. The new team line-up, consisting of students from all forms, put up a great defense and offense through consistent communication and encouragement.

Coach Nuffer says this year’s team is quite diverse in both age and experience. She has been trying to narrow the gap in skill levels of their players. “It has definitely been a growing season as a team, with both veterans and brand-new players,” she says. They have been focusing more on the “little things”, such as ball handling. “As coach, I want to make sure that my girls are good in their skill, so then when the game time and level of play increases, they have their fundamentals down to then expand and improve.”

When asked about her players’ performance in the game, Coach Nuffer pointed out Molly Garrahy ’20, the team’s co-captain, who had drawn a lot of fouls and forced jump-balls from the opposing team. She describes her as having a lot of “hustle and tenacity” during the game. “Energy and team morale wise, it’s always great to have her, she’s able to come out fresh no matter what point of the game it is.” 

Coach Nuffer also praised the performance of Morgan Lee ’22 and Cecilia McAndrews ’20. She describes McAndrews as “a consistent presence who is able to hop in any position I ask her to quickly.” Their post-game talks were mostly centered around attitude. Everyone was familiar with the skills and fundamentals, but in-game “it has always been more of the attitude that fosters and keeps the team focused, driven and working together.” 

With several weeks of play left, there’s still a lot of time for the team to improve and we’re eager to see them continue to grow and hopefully take home more wins.