The New Year marks a turning point for winter sports; the preseason wraps up and the regular season is on the horizon. Teams have practiced and trained for months at this point, adapting between losses and carrying momentum between wins. For the HRV girls basketball team, there’s a challenging season ahead, but still reason to hope.
“It’s definitely been a challenging preseason,” said coach Donnie Herneisen. “In addition to playing some of the better 5A/4A teams, we’re playing through more injuries than I’ve ever had on one team. However, that has given some other players an opportunity to grow and move into roles they never had before.”
Injuries are always an interesting factor of a team’s success or failure. They call into question the performance of a team in its current makeup and kindle hope through tough losses with the promise of improvement at their conclusions.
The Eagles have three starters out at the moment, and while other girls have stepped up like coach Herneisen said, the reality is that HRV has a significant hole in their roster.
“Getting healthy has to be a goal for us,” said Herneisen. “Other players have learned how to play without those starters on the court, and that has really helped us and allowed other players to develop confidence in their own game.”
This season is an important one for the Eagles. With the majority of their players made up by seniors, HRV will have a young varsity team next year, and possibly the year after that as well. Despite a tough preseason coming to a close, the Eagles have their heads high heading into league play.
“This team has a goal of making the playoffs, meaning finishing at least third in league, and that is going to require us upsetting a few teams,” said Herneisen.
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