By Ella Kate McCord
“The season didn’t necessarily go our way and yes it was tough but I think we really improved at the end of the season,” girls basketball captain Ella Turner told me. “By our last game we actually saw a lot of positivity and growth from where we were leading into winter break.”
While I was talking to Ella and Vaughan McNight I realized that even though the season was hard they were able to emerge from it closer than ever.
“My favorite thing about the season was the team,” Ella said. “We were really really close together and because of how small it was, we were able to really bond, especially in the hardships that we had to face. I think that that was definitely my favorite part because I got so much closer to people who are not necessarily in my grade or in my friend group so I was able to get to know more people around Lovett.”
Vaughan agreed. “I have gotten so much closer with everyone on the team and enjoyed spending time with them,” she said.
These two have both been playing Lovett basketball together since the fifth grade.
Throughout this season, they had many hardships because they lost a lot of players. “Our biggest challenge was being able to finish a game. We would start off strong then at the end lose by a couple of points. We got very close a couple of times but could not pull through with a win,” Vaughan said.
It became a struggle to stay motivated. “But this made me grow as a leader more,” Ella said. . “It was just a really negative loop of losing and we just had to take the little bits of positive from our own growth and use that momentum to keep pushing through the season.”
Though the team dynamic was different due to the loss of players and the participation of more freshmen, they still bonded with each other.
“We have gotten very close as a team and even though we didn’t win that much I still loved the season because of the people,” Vaughan said.
