St. Joe Girl’s Basketball Team is Rolling

St.+Joe+Girl%E2%80%99s+Basketball+Team+is+Rolling

After starting the season 1-3, the girls are on a 5 game winning streak with wins against Bremen, Adams, Northwood, Jimtown, and South Central. When asked about how she feels about the team and their momentum entering into the second half of the season Kelly Ratigan replied, “It feels great. Despite our rough start to the season I’m really happy with where the team is at right now and we keep improving every day.”

The girls have come a long way since their season opener against New Prairie. Optimism has filled the air for the girls with big goals headed into the postseason. 

Last Friday, December 11th the squad played Jimtown on senior night. The three seniors: Sarah Hiestand, Mia Naman, and Hannah Tyler were honored for their four years in the program. The night was bittersweet, looking back on the memories they have created these past years, but also fulfilling knowing they were able to make it this far to celebrate a senior night. Sarah Hiestand spoke on this saying, “Having Senior Night in the middle of the season was strange, but it was great to be able to have that night as a guarantee knowing that every day moving forward is not guaranteed. But also on that note, our jobs aren’t finished as seniors and this is only the beginning of our journey this season and our goals are now becoming visible which is exciting.”

The girls have ambitious goals but are all confident that with hard work and focus that anything is possible. All three seniors this year are a big part of the reason for the team’s recent success. Their experience and desire to win on the court is very important for the team.

“They are like the glue for the team. The team relies on them to keep the team together and when they play well, so does everyone else,” Kelly Ratigan replies when asked about the seniors.

Their leadership has also been key because the team is young, and has little varsity playing experience prior to this year. The team expressed eminent gratitude towards the three seniors, and were all glad they could give them a special and memorable night. When asked about senior night Brai Woods expressed “We look up to the seniors as teammates and people, and I’m super glad we were able to make their night special.” 

Moving forward to the rest of the season, a few game cancellations have happened such as Riley, North Judson, and Merrillville. Saint Joe remains searching for replacement games but is focused on having a solid week of practice and acing their final exams. Plenty of buzz surrounds the team as they head into break and play in the Northridge Holiday Tournament against top teams in the state.