The Niles West Girls and Boys Varsity basketball program played against school rivals Niles North, on Friday, Dec. 6. Last year, the boys lost to the Vikings in an intense game, while the girls won; however, this year the boys team left the game with a devastating loss of 74-42, and the girls left losing 47-36.
This loss has forced the boys’ team to reflect on their gameplay and teamwork for the rest of the season. Head boys Varsity Coach Garrett Jones has noted areas the team struggled with during the game.
“We had a lot of turnovers, that led to a lot of baskets, especially in transition, and also just, you know, we’re figuring out how to play with each other. We’re not there just yet, and that’s one thing that we got to continuously build, and that’s gonna happen over time,” Jones said.
Senior Jase Loyd also saw what the team struggled with and is already thinking about what the team needs to improve to get ahead in the game.
“We couldn’t hit shots, [we] struggled with hitting sides, and getting stops on defense…we just let the game go by the second quarter…[but] the plan to improve for the next game is getting more stops on defense and if we score consistently, then we’ll be in the game,” Loyd said.
The team was successful in some areas, and junior Devin Macapinlac spotted these things.
“I think we did well in the first quarter, we actually executed our offense plays and stuff, and our defense was all right. I think we gave more effort in the first quarter than the rest [of the game],” Macapinlac said.
The season is still fresh and the team is still learning how to play in uniform. Jones has plenty of hope that the team will get better together and continue the season stronger.
“We know that we’re not gonna be, you know, perfect right now, and that’s completely fine…it’s the daily goal of getting better every single day, the motto is one percent better every single day…as long as we have, you know, the mindset and a notion to get better every single day over the course of the season, we could be playing our best basketball going into February,” Jones said.
The team shares the same goal to get better throughout the season, win as many games as they can, and become first in their conference.
“The goal for us is to get at least 20 wins and first in the conference,” Loyd said.
The girls put up a fight but were not able to pull through at the end of the game. While the girls were able to pull out a win last year, this year is a different story, with things to work on the team is prepared to work hard for the rest of the season in hopes to get their first win.
Junior Linnea Applequist had a lot of time on the court this game and acknowledges the things the team as well as herself need to improve on. Although they ended with a loss they put up a good fight and ended with a close score.
“I think we played a good game even though we didn’t get the results we wanted. The biggest thing for us right now is improving our chemistry and also our ability to keep the same intensity the whole game,” Applequist said.
Senior Katelyn Daly also acknowledges the team has a lot to work on and that they have been working hard in practice in order to gain their confidence back.
“In practice, we are working on different types of defense and offense because we need to get into a rhythm. As soon as we get our first win we will all gain our confidence back and start building more team chemistry. I am a little upset at the result because it is never good to lose to North. I honestly thought we played a really good game it’s just shots weren’t falling on offense,” Daly said.
While neither team was able to pull out a win this year against North, there is still a full season with lots of games ahead. Make sure to support the teams in their next game. Good luck to both the boys and the girl’s basketball team this year!
