Girls junior varsity basketball is bouncing their way back to Townsend. Last year, the girls JV basketball team had a 3-5 record, beating Springfield Gardens by three games, and losing to Bayside High School by one game. Despite not making playoffs, the team and the coach all commended each other for their effort last year, and for this year, they are ready to continue to do their very best.
Former JV player, junior Diamond Moody, saw JV as a fun experience. She recalls her fondest memories, explaining, “One day we even played football for practice to work on catching and hand-eye coordination. Also, after one game the team went out to eat, which was a good bonding experience.”
Photo Credit: Nicole Fountoulis.
However, it was a season of improvement and hard work. “We worked extremely hard and improved greatly. Although we had a lot of fun throughout the season, we were unable to make it to the playoffs,” states Nicole Fountoulis, coach of the girls JV basketball team.
Sophomore Dina Goodger comments, “We definitely had the potential to be the top team, or one of the top teams.”
Last year’s captain, Aeriell Mansell, explains why the season was a struggle. “Most of our practices were late, 4:30 to 6:30ish, and usually in the hallways. So we didn’t get as much time as we would’ve liked to on the court,” she relates.
Coach Nicole Fountoulis has plans for this year’s team. “[I will] improve on the fundamentals: strength and endurance, and by working on basketball skills, knowledge, communication, teamwork and maintaining a positive attitude throughout the season,” she says.
Juniors cannot continue with JV basketball, since the team only takes freshmen and sophomores. Thus new sophomore captains will be chosen, and the sophomores this year will lead the team and offer guidance to the new freshmen recruits.
Sophomore Cindy Wu, the only player returning to junior varsity this year, will become this year’s captain. As captain, she plans to “give tips during practice and offer encouragement.”
Junior Elizabeth Ha has confidence in this year’s captains, “I have confidence in their leadership skills. They will surely be able to help the rookies feel more comfortable and help ease them into the basketball family. As for games, I am sure they will set great examples in facing game situations. I’m confident that they will be able to lead the JV team towards excellence,” she proudly states.
