By: Abby Journay / Staff writer: Crimson Messenger
With the end of October and the beginning of November comes the finish of fall sports and preparations for winter seasons. The NPHS girls basketball team is no different, however the girls’ work started way back in June. Junior Margaret Barrett has been going to the workouts since the summer.
“We did a ton of summer workouts and we made sure to implement conditioning and lots of fundamentals. We’ve really been stressing good attitude and energy going into the season, and just focusing on building each other up as much as we can and pushing each other to make us better,” Barrett said.
With this lengthy training season, the team is looking to heighten the community mindset within its ranks. In order to have a strong roster, they are emphasizing having the same goals and work ethic.
“As a team, we want to really focus on keeping our mindset on an ultimate goal for the team. Obviously, we want to get better individually, but I think setting aside our own ego and wants is important to have success for the whole team. So I think just focusing on what you can do to help your team out, even if that’s not what you necessarily want to be doing. I think just prioritizing team over self is important,” Barrett said.
One of the ways the team is going about creating this atmosphere is letting the upperclassmen take more of a leadership role than in previous years. The class of 2026 is the largest senior class that the girls basketball team has had in six years, making the dynamic fairly different from recent seasons.
Barrett said, “I think having that older, more seasoned presence is gonna be good going into the season.”
On the other end of the spectrum, the multitude of freshmen that have joined the team has grown the group significantly. As they learn from the older girls, the goal is to prepare them to replace them once they cycle through.
“I think also just getting more experience for all of the younger players, and making sure that both JV and varsity are competitive environments. Because the JV players now are the future of the program. So I think it’s important to value every player,” Barrett said.
In the end, the team’s season goals are very reachable with this approach.
“We have a really good chance of winning the conference, and I know the ultimate goal is to win our sectional, so I have really high hopes for what we’re able to accomplish as a team this year,” Barrett said.
