An 18-4 season coupled with a devastating loss to proverbial powerhouse Flint Catholic Powers in the tournament last spring provided plenty of motivation to make this year’s Goodrich girls varsity basketball squad the team to beat.
Coach Jason Gray emphasizes that even with the loss of the Powers game he is setting high goals for his girls? varsity basketball team and looks forward to seeing them improve with each practice. However, a few changes have taken place to the roster this year.
The loss of six seniors seems like a disadvantage, but not for the Martians, said Gray.
‘We have 10 girls on our team,? said junior Brittany Bertrand. ‘I like having a smaller team though, because we have great chemistry and we really work well together.
Gray could not agree more.
‘Having seven girls returning makes things a lot easier,? said Gray.We skipped over a lot of the basics and during our practices we get right to what needs to be worked on.?
A normal practice for the Martians consists of running drills, shooting, fast break drills, and one-to-one offense and defense. The team has three new players’senior Kara Suppes, sophomore Taylor Westerby, and freshman Frankie Joubran. Between the three, Gray sees energy, speed, and strength brought to the team. The girls have been practicing Monday-Friday since tryouts, with a Saturday or Sunday practice when needed.
‘Our practices have been going really well,? said Bertrand. ‘Mr. Gray is a great coach and he works us really hard, but it’s expected, being on varsity. We each work to our ability and push each other to improve.? Scheduling changes are said to bring more competition to the team.
‘We have a lot of more competitive games in our future,? said Gray. ‘The girls will need to adjust quickly to the more difficult teams. I’m not too worried about it though, because I am constantly seeing them improve.? The first game will be at 7 p.m., Dec 5, at Brandon High School.