On Friday, December 9, the girls varsity basketball team was able to express one word throughout its playing: redemption. The girls showed redemption by winning their first game of the season, 38-27, against Thornapple Kellogg. However, going into the game, they knew that they couldn’t hold anything back.

Throughout the game, the girls showed many improvements in both skills and team collaboration. “We had much better ball movement,” junior Maggie Kelderman said. “We also were having fewer turnovers and our shots were going in a lot better than they have in past games.”
Even with the win, the girls are also able to recognize what needs to be done going into their next game. They can look and analyze this game against Thornapple Kellogg and earlier games to know what needs to be improved on and what needs to be the main focus leading up to the against a large rivalry, Forest Hills Eastern. Maggie was able to express what needs to be focused on when she said, “Of course, there are things that we need to work on, and one of those was our running plays. We were struggling of getting the plays to run so that will be the main focus going into our next practices.”

Although the girls understand what needs to happen to prepare for their next game, they are still excited and happy nonetheless with this win. It was not only a win but the first win of the season. This win is giving them the confidence boost they have been wanting since the start of this season and is allowing them to feel better about going into the game against Forest Hills Eastern.

“We are all really excited about it and having our first win under our belts really is a confidence boost going into our next game,” Maggie said. “We will still focus on our turnovers, with the number of turnovers we have been having is unacceptable and working on our shots because our shot percentage is low.”

Knowing what needs to be done going into the next game, the girls are more than ready to hopefully come out on top. With that in mind, the girls will play at home against Forest Hills Eastern on Tuesday, December 12, at 7 pm. Go make it out to support our Lady Rangers for a fierce game of the season!