As winter approaches, the Pinewood’s girls basketball team shifts their attention to the new season, looking to learn from both their successes and shortcomings of years past.
This season, the team’s main goal is to make a deep playoff run all while developing skills that will transcend beyond the basketball court.
“The goals are always the same: League, CCS, Nor Cal and State Champions,” head coach Doc Scheppler said. “But the main goal is always who they become in pursuit of those goals. Are they hard workers, good learners, selfless teammates, resilient believers? That’s the lifelong goal.”
Furthermore, the addition of new players, such as junior Andrianna Wilkinson and freshmen Elliot Ososki, Abigail Yew, and Sloane Parenti, have positively impacted the team dynamic.
“They inject a lot of young, positive energy to the team and boost our morale along with being really competitive,” senior Jolyn Ding said.
In the offseason, the team played numerous club games, sharpening their team synergy, all while getting their bodies physically ready for the upcoming season. According to Scheppler, preseason practice has been going well.
“Since we finished our season in early March, everyone has made significant improvement in their decision making,” Scheppler said. “I’m also looking forward to all of them becoming mentally stronger in handling the failure or recovery component of being great basketball players.”
Scheppler, and his players alike, understand that maintaining resilient mindsets will be crucial for the team to compete at their best.
“If we have a positive mindset going into a game and we are supporting each other, even when some of us are struggling, that will empower us to make a comeback; or, if we are in the lead, it will keep us engaged and encourage us to keep pushing,” Ding said.
Ding also stressed the importance of being good teammates and mentioned that team chemistry will be a key component of the team’s success.
“Off the court, we all are really good friends, and on the court, we know what we need to do, which is make each other better and win,” Ding said.
With the first official game right around the corner, Scheppler encourages Pinewood students to come out to games and support the girls basketball team.
“We want our school to get behind our group of players and celebrate their greatness,” Scheppler said.
