Exiting the court at almost midnight, the RBHS girls basketball team took another victory with a 45-40 lead over Hazelwood Central, despite the late starting time. The Bruins began the first quarter trailing behind with a score of 7-4. In the second quarter, however, the girls made a comeback, leading 18-14. Despite winning another game, senior Mary Capron said the team still has a lot to work on because the season is just beginning and this year’s team is very different from last year’s.
“We have a lot of new girls but we’re really close and that helps a lot,” Capron said. “This team is special because we have a lot of speed, a lot of talent and a lot of team chemistry.”
While Capron experienced one more year of RBHS girls basketball than junior Eryn Puett, Puett said this year’s team is a lot closer than past years and is like one big family. Individually, however, Puett said she needs to work on not being so nervous before the game, though she prepared to play in several different ways.
“I studied the scout that the coach gave us and watched [basketball] film,” Puett said. “[As a team] we prepared by trying to get ready for [Hazelwood Central’s] defense. They were really fast and we haven’t seen a team that fast this year.”
Puett also said she drove to the basketball well and had some good assists. To further train the Bruins for the Hazelwood game and receive well-practiced plays like Puett’s, Head Coach Jill Nagel had the team watch game film of previous games of Hazelwood Central and also their game from last year.
“We looked to tweak our plays based on the corrections we see are needed from reviewing the game film,” Nagel said. “[We watched] to see what [Hazelwood Central] did against our offensive and defensive schemes. From a film, we develop a detailed scouting report.”
The practice procedures Nagel puts into place helps Capron go into the game confident and ready. Nagel believes this confidence helps everyone in whatever endeavor, whether it be on the court or in the classroom. On her own, Capron said she prepares in the same way her team does, in practice.
“We take the season one game at a time which allows each player to focus on the next game and their job in that game,” Capron said. “We work hard to be the best team we can be, no matter who we’re playing.”
How do you predict the season will go?