The RM girls varsity basketball team fell to B-CC 55-37, Friday night, in the first round of the playoffs. Despite coming up short in what would be their final game of the season, the Rockets were not lacking any of the passion, persistence, and support for their teammates they are known for.
“[At the beginning of the game] we were just hoping to come out and make a lot of shots, and be able to stop their offense,” said sophomore Melanie Osborne. RM started off strong against B-CC, pushing the tempo as both teams hustled back and forth down the court. Shots by senior Linda Qiu, junior Mackenzie Harwood, and sophomore Melanie Osborne kept RM trailing B-CC only by a few points. At the end of the first quarter, B-CC was leading 18-15. It was still anyone’s game.
B-CC was strong on offense, taking multiple rebound shots, driving the lane, and connecting tricky passes. “I think later on they started driving to the basket and penetrating our defense more and we just were unable to stop them. Also later on, they started getting more rebounds which gave them second and sometimes third looks at the basket,” said junior Madeleine Cheng.
The points the Barons scored in the second quarter gave them a strong lead that they maintained for the rest of the game. However, no RM player could be seen looking defeated or discouraged. “Despite [B-CC’s plays], everyone still played their hearts out and with the highest level of intensity they could, and that’s definitely something to be proud of,” said Cheng.
In the second half, seniors Kimberly Stamets and Devon Goetz played solid defense against B-CC’s players, and did not waste opportunities to get the ball down to their end of the court. The team kept high spirits and composure, exemplified by senior Devon Goetz and sophomore Kate Schuck’s confident free throws. There was also a round of applause for Qiu and Osborne when they were subbed out of the game in the final two minutes. “We are really good at supporting each other. We always tell each other to forget a mistake and focus on the next play. We cannot afford to have someone be down on themselves, so we always try to keep it positive,” explained senior Samantha Griffin.
Not only did the seniors lead the team well on Friday, they have been outstanding leaders and examples for the younger players for the whole season. “One of the goals we had was to win more games, for varsity girls’ basketball, than any team in the past ten years. And we did that. So, nine wins was the high mark, and obviously the girls wanted to get over 500, but I am so proud of them for getting to ten wins and competing,” said head coach Mike Oakes.
The 2016 graduating class was Oakes’ first class he coached for all four years of the girls’ high school basketball careers. Oakes was the junior varsity coach for two seasons before moving up to varsity last season.
RM finished their season with a 10-14 record, which includes their holiday tournament where they trounced all of the competing schools to come out as champions. “Even in tonight’s loss, I’m so proud of [this group of seniors]. I know that all of the underclassmen really look up to them, and when we continue to have more success in the future, it’s going to be in large part due to the senior class of 2016,” Oakes continued.
Next season, the returning varsity players are looking to come out strong and confident, and win even more games than they did this season. “My goals [for next season] are to hopefully do the same thing as the seniors, because they’ve done such an amazing job with the program. I hope to keep it going,” said sophomore Megan Palmaira.
The departing seniors do not want the younger players to forget what they accomplished this season, and have high expectations for what the team will accomplish next season. “Next year, I want them to beat a team they aren’t ‘supposed to’ beat: BCC, WJ, Churchill, Whitman, Wootton,” said senior Tori Cruz-Falk.
Goetz also expressed what she wants next year’s returning players to take from this season: “I think that they should remember the composure we had as a team. I had the pleasure and honor of watching each and every one of them grow and help me grow, and I think that as a team we did a lot of maturing this year. I know they’re going to carry that through to next year and I’m so excited to see what they will do in the coming years,” Goetz said.
The team is still counting this season as one for the books, and hopes to take what they learned from the seniors to be even better in the 2016-2017 season. As Osborne stated, “For me personally, I’m going to be working hard over the summer — we’re all going to be doing team camps over the summer — to get better, so that when we have our first game next season, we’ll come out stronger than ever.”
