KIRAN DATWANI
It has been a tight competition this year during the basketball season. As the play-offs continue and the championship game approaches, it is nearly time for the winners to take home the prize!
This year, three schools are competing in the girls’ playoffs: Laura High School, Majuro Cooperative School and SDA High School.
The play-offs and the championship games are happening this week at the SDA gym. The girls’ play-offs began Tuesday this week. The championship is scheduled for Saturday, April 8. Will Co-op’s girls team repeat once again, or can LHS or SDA win the championship this year?
Each team has different goals, different ideas and different players. Each captain has their own strategy for success and to win the final game. Here are some of the thoughts of the captains of Laura High School, Co-op and SDA:
“I have been the girls’ basketball team captain for almost two years, since sophomore year,” said Arianna Abraham of Co-op. The other two girl captains had different stories.
“The team members and the coach chose me this school year as captain because I was the only senior and I would be most suitable to lead them,” said Stephanie Allen from SDA.
“I have been selected captain for only a month by my peers,” said LHS girls’ captain, Nelly Williams.
As the championship game draws near, there are mixed feelings inside the girls as they struggle to put their team in perfect shape. “This season has been high pressure,” said Arianna. “Although my team is great and has a lot of potential, and I love them, we can be lacking sometimes. That’s why sportsmanship is incredibly important to my team, so we are able to work together to accomplish a common goal. The girls’ basketball team of Co-op has been winning for seven years in a row, it makes me so nervous when we get close to the championship. It’s either we win and make it eight years, or we lose and crush the winning title we have had for so long.”
Stephanie and Nelly have different thoughts. “I am not really pressured, to me it’s most important to have fun and work as a team,” said Stephanie. “I know we have the potential of being a great team. Besides, playing basketball with my girls distracts me from personal and school issues.”
Similarly, Nelly claims cheerfully, “My team works very hard, even when sometimes we can slack off and be lazy. To the team, honestly, it’s not about winning, it’s about having fun. And that’s what I love about my team the most. I feel great playing with them because I have fun with my ballers and get to know them better.”
Who will win? We will find out this Saturday.
Read more about this in the April 7, 2017 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.