Early Season Adversities
Horace Greeley Girls Varsity Basketball, led by captains Ava Gusba and Bella Schulman, has guided Greeley to a 4-4 start. After losing their first two games, Greeley did not panic. Early in the season, the team struggled to get defensive rebounds, allowing opponents to get more second chance opportunities. When asked how the team would prepare to get back on track after two consecutive losses, Forward Jordan Silver said, “​​After our first two difficult games Greeley was able to bounce back by a rise of intensity in practice. We knew we needed to fix our rebounding and not give up so many second chances off of the opposing team’s offensive rebounds. In practice we consistently did rebounding drills and worked very hard until we saw improvements in our games. Allowing fewer second chances in games allowed us to get back on track. We continue to improve and work hard in practice everyday.” Despite early adversity, Greeley basketball adjusted by identifying their weaknesses, and working hard in practice to improve. Greeley has won four out of their last six games after an 0-2 start.
Briarcliff Booster Club Basketball Tournament
In the Briarcliff Booster Club Basketball Tournament held on December 9th, Horace Greeley had a strong performance and made a run for the championship. Greeley was matched up against a 1-1 Briarcliff team for their first game. After dominating Briarcliff High School by 28 points, Greeley was set to play an undefeated Hendrick Hudson High School in the championship. Greeley lost this nailbiter by five points and fell just short of a championship. When asked what she learned from the tournament, Jordan Silver said, “Our team learned the fight we will have to put up this season. We will continue to improve and build a fight to hopefully have a promising postseason. As long as everyone puts in their best effort and continues to work hard on and off the court, we should have better results.” Greeley is not satisfied with how they played and they are using this championship loss as motivation. The team is keeping a positive mindset which should lead to many wins to come.