Mid Season Report

Mid Season report

By: Brock Alkire 

December 21, 2023 

It’s the middle of the season and I wanted to check in on some of the players from around the area to see how they are doing. Here are their responses. 

Mya Wardle Peoria Notre Dame

In your opinion how do you think this team has performed so far? “I think our team has been improving as the year goes on. I think that we have moments that we look very good and moments that show what we need to work on. This team is a team that will continue to get better game by game and that is very exciting because we haven’t reached our potential yet. I think these next few weeks will be difficult but we are ready for the challenge!”

What’s it like having your sister on the floor with you for your senior year? How do you two push each other to keep getting better? “Having Emy on the court is one of the best things that has happened to me in my basketball career. Emy and I are not only teammates but best friends and that’s something sisters might not be able to say about each other. Emy and I balance each other out and we play better because of it. She is calm and steady where I’m super competitive and fiery. Emy is a quiet killer whereas I am very vocal. Emy is also the best at calling me out when I need it and vice versa and it’s a connection unlike anything or anyone I’ve played with. We got each others back, even if we fight at practice sometimes 🤣”

What’s this team's end goal for the season? “Our end goal for the season is to be playing our best basketball when post season comes around. We want to be able to have played tough games and faced adversity and feel confident we can handle tough situations that come at us in post season. Ultimately we want to make a run, but we know that doesn’t happen if we don’t push ourselves in every game we have leading up to February.”

Kamryn Heider Richwoods 

How do you think your team has performed so far? “I think we have performed well. We lost a few close games, but we as a team all know what we need to do to get better, and hopefully we can see some of those teams that we lost to again and come out with a win.”

Is there a specific game or tournament that your team is looking forward to? “We are definitely looking forward to the State Farm tournament. Hopefully we can play two teams that previously beat us. That would be a big tournament to win and would put a lot of people on notice.”

What’s this team's end goal for the season? “Of course go to state. We have a tough regional to win, but we feel since our schedule is one of the hardest and we will have already played a majority of the teams in our regional, we will be ready and can get an upset.”

Julia Sollberger Dunlap

In your opinion, how do you think your team has performed so far? “we have done a good job of never giving up no matter what the score is. the last two games we have been down almost 15 points and we brought both of the within 3 points. i think that really shows the grit and fight that our coaches are instilling in us. obviously we would’ve liked to have come out with a few more of those wins, but i’ll take our effort any day”

Is there a specific game or tournament that your team is looking forward to? “I am personally really excited to play PND in January since it will be for such a good cause and hopefully we have a great showing of people that are wanting to donate for Dylan. I also think our Christmas tournament at manual will be really fun and have some great competition”

What’s the team focusing on for the 2nd half of the season? “We are trying to focus on finishing more layups and being a little more aggressive on defense. Defense is what creates offense so we would like to get more steals in order to have more possessions. Overall we just want to finish out a couple more games and have a great time doing it!”

Emily Dana Peoria Heights

Why do you think this team had so much success this season?

“We have played together for years, and we all have the same goal in mind. STATE. We’re always in the gym working hard and supporting each other. We know this year is the year we can make a name for ourselves and prove to everyone how good we actually are. We also have really good team chemistry on and off the court!”

Is there a specific game or tournament that your team is looking forward to?

“We are looking forward to the Princeville Christmas tournament! It’s our first time back in the tournament after a couple of years.”

What’s this team focusing on for the 2nd half of the season? “We’re focusing on fixing some mistakes we’ve made early in the season and finding ways to fix and prevent those mistakes. We are also working on keeping a high intensity throughout the entire game and getting ready for the postseason.”

Kylie Moeller East Peoria

In your opinion, how do you think your team has performed so far?

“I feel like we have definitely improved as a team this year, I'm really happy with how we have performed so far compared to previous years.”

Is there a specific game or tournament that your team is looking forward to? “Yes, we will be playing in the Manual holiday tournament!!”

What’s the team focusing on for the 2nd half of the season? “We are going to continue to work hard every single day, and keep growing & improving as much as we can”