Girls basketball placed fifth at the 31st annual Lady Cat Classic tournament at El Dorado High School Thursday, Jan. 25 through Saturday, Jan. 27. The team lost their first game against Kapaun but won their second two games against Augusta and Wichita East.
At the tournament, junior Averie Landon made the all-tournament team and juniors Josie Benson and Marissa Hoelting made the all-hustle team. Additionally, freshman Riley Marshall scored 26 points in the final game, tying for ninth-most in tournament history.
Benson thought the team played really well together and has come a long way since last season.
“Last season, we struggled with working as a team,” Benson said. “This year, we’re all really good friends and we’re all really close. We know when something’s up. We know how to cheer each other up. We always have good energy. We’re just better overall. It’s not necessarily about the points we score, [although our] overall point percentage has gone up a lot, we just look better.”
Landon agreed, saying that the team played with a lot of energy, especially in the last games.
“Our first game was tough, but our last two were really good,” Landon said. “As a team, we brought the energy and won the [final] game by just bringing it in the first quarter.”
Landon also echoed Benson’s thoughts about the team’s improvement, saying that the team has begun to play in a new way.
“The team has improved from last season by having a bunch of other scorers and, mentally, I feel like we’re understanding basketball more,” Landon said. “This season, [especially] the last couple of games, we’ve woken up.”
In addition to junior Gracie Kurzejeski, both Benson and Landon are team captains this year because the team does not have any seniors. Having three juniors as captains gives the team an opportunity to play together for more than just one year without losing any key players. For Marshall, this also helps with team bonding.
“I think [not having any seniors] has made everyone more comfortable with each other and we’ve been able to explore and just work together as a team,” Marshall said. “We’ve gotten to know each other and have been more comfortable working with each other.”
According to Benson, despite the team’s overall improvements from last season, there is still room to grow.
“Our defensive possessions have been a lot better but towards the beginning they were a little rocky,” Benson said. “We make shots; we have shooters on the team. We just need to keep what we have right now. Sometimes we lose a game and then we get down and then we lose the next game. We just need to stay up and keep energy even when we’re not playing.”
