In sports, there are many components that can impact an athlete’s performance like an injury, weather changes, or even equipment. However, one of the largest components that can impact an athlete’s performance is rivalries, and the girls varsity basketball team at Forest Hills Central experienced that in its game against East Grand Rapids. 

“The rivalry definitely is a huge aspect of the game,” junior Maggie Sneider said. “There is a lot more pressure to perform.”

On Friday, January 27, the girls played EGR in a blistering game, but it sadly ended with the girls losing 54-34. Even though the girls were not able to come out of this game with the win, they still went into this game knowing what needed to be done. For instance, they were able to improve on their defense, which has been something that they have been working a great deal on recently in the past few weeks. 

Not only were they able to showcase what they have been working on and bettering on it these past few weeks, but they were also able to see and take away what needs to be improved on. One of those things being their aim when it comes to shooting. This can heavily impact a game due to it possibly leading to the overturning of the ball to the other team, which in many cases can lead to them gaining an advantage in scoring points against FHC. 

Nonetheless, the girls were still able to come out of this game with their heads held high and ready to go into their next game. 

“For the next game we are just keeping a positive mindset and working on the things that we can control,” Maggie Sneider said. 

With that, the girls will be playing their next home game against Calvin Christian on Tuesday, January 30, at 7:00 pm.