The Falls Church Girls Varsity Basketball team had an incredible season.
The Lady Jags have grown intensively as a team since last year. The players worked hard both on and off the court to achieve success, ending the season with a 15-10 record. Their journey was filled with exciting moments and outstanding performances.
This season the girls worked hard and pushed themselves to make it to the first round of regionals. The team has grown together more and more each season but this year their closeness could be easily seen, especially on the court.
“Ways that we’ve grown together more are just team dinners, like hanging out outside of basketball and getting to know each other more. That’s one way the team’s grown, and another way is like just doing everything together prior to our game, you know like eating together, warming up together, stuff like that,” said Riley Fisher (10).
By the end of the season, the dynamic the team had was one of the best connections anyone could have, from hyping each other up and congratulating each other to comforting one another. Jamming out in the back of the locker room and braiding hair with teammates before stepping onto the court helped the team make connections. They decorated part of the locker room to show their team spirit.
“We created this part of the locker room that is decorated with all our initials and has Christmas lights up, and we all play music and get hyped and dance right before games,” said senior Emily Keefe. “We do each other’s hair, and we all just kind of get hyped and locked in, and it’s kind of a nice thing because we’re kind of separated from everyone else and just like, have our own thing.”
One of the six graduating seniors, Simone Pendleton, not only hit a milestone in her last season of high school basketball ,she also broke the school record for girls basketball for most points scored in her four years on the team. Pendleton hit a record of 1,000 career points to lead her team.
“I was just proud of myself for making it this far and thankful for the people who were with me and encouraging me all the way,” said Pendleton.
At the end of her senior season, Keefe had advice for younger athletes wanting to try out and make their mark in a sport.
“Don’t be afraid. Don’t compare yourself to others. Personally, freshman year I was very intimidated when I saw other players who were bigger, older, but I just kind of did my thing. And that’s what you got to do… just put yourself first and show everyone what you’ve got. And. Yeah, do your best,” said Keefe.
