Women’s varsity basketball players reflect on the season
February 28, 2022
As Wakefield High School’s Women’s Basketball team ends their 2021-2022 season, their hard-working players get a chance to reflect on their eventful season. These girls, ranging from freshman to seniors persevered through their struggles and celebrate their success.
Presley Merritt, a senior at Wakefield High School and the captain of the women’s varsity basketball team, shared the highlight of her year.
“This year was kind of crazy but the highlight of it was probably my senior night just because I’ve played for six years and it was cool to kind of wrap it all up in that way with my teammates,” Merritt said. “It was cool to see the relationships I created throughout the team.”
With practices and games throughout the season, Wakefield’s basketball players have gotten the chance to improve on their skills. Saliha Miraloglu is a freshman and player on the team who shared insights into her own growth.
“I’ve improved on my shots, handles, footwork, layups, speed, swiftness and passes,” Miraloglu said.
However, these girls did not only improve in their basketball skills; they also mentioned how they felt they grew as a person.
This year, I had to step in and be the louder voice which I never really have been.
— Merritt
“This year, I had to step in and be the louder voice which I never really have been,” Merritt said. “It taught me to speak up, be positive, [learn] how to organize and regulate a team and really just keep it [going] smoothly throughout the season.”
Along with improvements, however, comes obstacles that players need to overcome as a team. Synae Alexander is a junior who conveyed the struggles she felt the members faced.
“The chemistry of the team was a little hard,” Alexander said. “Losing is not fun for anybody, that was [pretty] difficult, but I think we still worked through it.”
As this season comes to an end, Wakefield’s women’s basketball team strives to do very well next year. The returning team members are very excited to show their growth next year.
“Next year we’re going to be good,” Alexander said. “Even though everybody was talking about us, I think we’re going to be a good team next year.”
The most important thing to these basketball players wasn’t the ending score, but rather the friendships and memories they made along the way. As a team, they learned from their mistakes and celebrated their success together.
“I’m proud that with all the struggles we had this season, [we] came together and we fought really hard in our last few games,” Merritt said. “It ended up being a good season without winning or losing, it didn’t matter in the end [because] we created relationships.”
