Basketball is a team sport that is hard to play individually. Back at the beginning of the season, we knew that a successful season depended on forming new bonds. And what’s a better time to bond than going out of town?
The Arcata women’s basketball team rented an Airbnb for the first time instead of staying in hotel rooms, which in previous years led us to being kind of separated.
When we arrived at the Airbnb, Coach Charlie Espinoza told us that quiet time begins at 10:00 pm. Which never really works with a team full of high school girls. We were laughing and connecting with each other until around 2:30 am. Knowing we needed to be up by 7:00 am for our 9:00 am game the next day.
As a captain, I feel like it helped us gain the sisterhood we needed to be able to communicate with each other. It also helps that we mainly have seniors who have been together throughout the years.
“Even though there were some ups and downs, we’re closer as a team and work really well together,” senior Mia Cueto said.
December 18th – 20th, we traveled down to Napa for the Justin-Siena tournament. We won 2 and lost 1. The tourney ended in a 3-way tie with Arcata, Justin-Siena, and Pinole Valley for 1st place. January 1st and 2nd, we competed in the Sabrina Ionescu showcase, where we went 1-1. Our team got the exposure we wanted. We played against high-level and intense teams, hustling until the last buzzer.
Tournament season ended successfully. It’s a great experience for everyone, just getting to be girls together. Braiding hair and just singing our hearts out anytime we could, from singing the national anthem to Beyoncé.
Our team fought hard and put in a lot of work. We continued to put in the work throughout league games.
“Tournament season has made it so we trust each other a lot more,” senior captain Izzy Allen said. We play more as a team and not as individuals.” We’re more together now than we’ve ever been. It’s been so great to have a team to just fall back on when needed.
It takes a lot of commitment and trust, just to know that you will have at least one of your teammates there to help you up. Helping each other is a big thing, something we see on and off the court.
Mae Wolford takes the ball to the hoop, does a spin move, and gets an and-1 foul. She falls onto the ground, our team runs to her and helps pick her up because no teammate should get up without any help. No one on our team gets up alone. We are committed to being all in.
