On December 15, Varsity girls’ basketball team decimated the competition in the first Greater St.Louis All-Conference (GAC) game of the year, continuing their winning streak. Coming out strong in the beginning, far ahead of their opponents, the team lost speed in the second half, but still came through strong for a 58-43 win. Even with several more GAC games left, freshman shooting guard Sophie Delaney felt as if the win will lead the team forward.
“I feel like we kinda got pumped just because we beat North, but I feel like now that we have our first GAC win, that is going to push us to win the rest of our GAC’s,” Delaney said. “I think we did really well, we ended up winning, there was a couple rocks in the road, but every team goes through that.”
Though the energy was strong in the beginning of the game, as the first three quarters progressed and they began the fourth quarter, the energy had decreased.
“Towards the beginning, we came out with a lot of energy so I feel like it was kinda easier for us to get things going, but towards the end we really pushed through it and wanted to finish the game,” Delaney observed.
The team consistently tries to make sure they bring energy to each game. Part of maintaining positive energy through to the end of the fourth quarter is accepting mistakes the girls may have made, getting back out there and moving on, according to Ashley Roland 

, senior.
“Coach always says we need to have “next-play” mentality, so if you mess up, you need to just move on. For me, I definitely need to improve on that; as a team, we need to get stronger and have more endurance so we can make it through that fourth quarter,” Roland stated.
Along with focusing on promoting energy throughout the whole game, in preparation for the games in the future, the team will also continue to devote time to their defense.
“We have to focus on our defense,” Roland said, “because we need to get the rebounds and make plays off of them in offense.”
Moving forward, though the team acknowledges there are always skills to work on, optimism remains towards any chance towards progress. Sophie Tweedie is always ready to get better, and already sees improvement in her personal improvement from playing with the team.
“I want to achieve anything to improve on our game, and get even better,” said Tweedie,
“I do see improvement, and I feel like I’m getting stronger and more competitive as I’m playing with older girls.”
As the season progresses, the team has potential, and Tweedie is positive the girls will have a successful year.
“ I feel very confident in my team, I feel like we are going to do really well this season,” Tweedie said