The Bay School Blog sat down with senior and girls varsity basketball captain, Kayley, to talk about the recent close game with Marin Academy and where the team will go from here.
As a veteran of the team and this year’s captain, Kayley knows the ins and outs of a basketball season. “I’ve been on the team the longest. I’ve been on the team since I was a sophomore and that was the year we won league championship, which was super exciting,” she said, explaining also that preseason (the series of games and tournaments that precede the league season) has always been a time for the team to hone its competition skills.
A close game like the recent duel with Marin Academy, in which neither team ever led by more than five points, can be valuable experience for team players despite – and often because of – a loss.
“It was super close,” Kayley said. “I was playing in the first quarter, and when the quarter ended I didn’t even realize we were winning.” Though the winning didn’t last, the teamwork that kept the Breakers within a few points of victory did. “We only had seven players, and we played really hard; we played pretty well as a team together. It was only our second game. Compared to our last game we played so much better,” Kayley said. “I think we just wanted to win more.”
Despite the team’s various injuries and “four new players, two of whom are freshmen,” the team managed a truly impressive performance, which Kayley attributes simply to trying hard. “We tried running a new play last night, but really it came down to putting a lot of effort into the game,” she said.
Specifically, Kayley believes the individual playing styles that sometimes limited the team’s success in the past came together well in Thursday’s game. “What I think we did really well was have each other’s backs. If someone was getting tired because we didn’t have a lot of players, we would pick up for them,” she said. “My sister, Kendall, played really good defense. Michelle did a really good job getting shots off, Megan did a really good job rebounding, Ilana finally showed herself at the end of the game and put up some shots and got some rebounds.”
The presence of a few enthusiastic fans certainly didn’t hurt either. “Dr. Cunningham came out with his daughter, which was super nice. He cheered super loudly with Coach Glass. A Bay alum – Julia – from last year came with her mom, too,” Kayley said.
In future games, “We definitely want to improve as a whole team,” Kayley said. “A big thing for Ilana is team dynamics and having a lot of team bonding this year. … We also want to practice stuff in our preseason so that we’re ready for our season, and hopefully we’ll be a contender for the championship.”
Keep an eye out for further updates on girls varsity, girls JV and boys basketball on the blog and our social media platforms as the season progresses.
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