Improved Chemistry Fuels Girls’ Basketball over Northgate
January 21, 2020
Girls’ varsity basketball defeated a strong Northgate Broncos team 63-54 on January 7.
Head coach Matthew Kirby said it was “a good win tonight because the teams that we’ve got our wins against, besides Pinole Valley [are] a bit, you know, mediocre.”
According to Kirby, a lot of players stepped up during this game, specifically freshman Allie Cummins, senior Kate Brown, and junior Kiana Thorson. “Kiana has been up and down this year but tonight was a really good night for her,” said Kirby.
Kirby added that Brown, a reliable defender, also played well on offense. “I think she’s getting more confident in her shot,” he said.
Despite a slow start, the Cougars eventually pulled ahead by 9 points in the final stages. Brown said, “We just weren’t making good decisions, but we started reigning it in and then we were able to pull it out.”
Brown attributed the slow start to just “being off” and having “bad passes.”
“We were pretty confident going into it, because 1 of their players, who is basically the main player, was hurt,” said Brown, admitting that the team “kind of underestimated [the Broncos] a little bit.”
While in past years, the team has struggled with its chemistry, according to Kirby, they were more welcoming to the freshmen this season.
Kirby recalled an incident with a freshman that joined the team a few years ago. “She was really good. And the girls just despised her. And were very, very just jealous of her and just didn’t really embrace her,” he said.
Brown said that the freshman on the team “all exceeded [her] expectations.”
“The diversity between the grades actually really bonded us,” said freshman guard Camille Yabu. “We all have our different personalities on the court and off the court.”
