Facing off against Greenville and Byron Center, the girls JV basketball squad went 1-1 in these two games. 

In the first game of the week, the girls got their second straight win, topping the Yellow Jackets 36-21. Claire Marvin led the team in scoring once again, dropping 9 points in the win. Mia Stibitz also was a big contributor, putting up 7. 

A focus of the team the whole year has been to get a manageable lead early so players who typically don’t get as many minutes can get equal in-game experience as the starters. In this game, the team was confident in its lead and did just that. 

“Our starters did not play the entire 4th quarter,” head coach JaVontae Ford stated. “It allowed for other players to get more in-game experience.”

Friday’s game against Byron Center went a little different than Tuesday’s game. Falling to a tough Bulldog squad 52-35 was not the outcome the girls wanted, but they put up an impressive fight.

Addyson Casten led the team in scoring with 8 points. Aside from Addyson, the team fought very hard as a group but did not manage to come out with the victory. 

As stated before, the team is focusing on getting into its groove early enough to be stress-free for the fourth quarter. In this matchup, though, it was not that way. The team was scrambling until the end to get its final shots up, but could not get them to fall in order to mount a comeback. 

“Although we didn’t win, our girls played hard and competed,” coach Ford said. 

As a team, losing is certainly a degrading feeling. But, it is reassuring when a group can put in the effort and continue to improve.

The girls’ next game will be at Lowell on Friday, February 4, at 4:00 pm.