Girls Basketball Makes a Comeback
Every sports team has their ups and downs, but not every team knows how to push through the down falls and keep going forward. This past week, the Girls Griffith High School Basketball team had a three day winning streak after going through a rough patch in the beginning of the season.
“The team has worked really hard all season and it is great to know that it is finally starting to pay off. We are working hard towards sectionals and we will continue to do so. Winning these three games were crucial to us because it let us work on different offensive and defensive strategies that will be helpful to us during the post season,” said senior Rachel Kruhaj.
The girls are using this winning streak as momentum for future games and leading into sectionals. The team is also getting some extra help and practice in from the boys team. The boys will occasionally come in to the girls practices to help improve their skills. Also, the girls middle school team gets to practice with the high schoolers from time to time so the girls can all get better as a whole and learn from one another.
Their season might not be going exactly as planned, but they had some good games and they are getting stronger as a team and as individual players.
“My favorite game was our game against KV because we were in the lead at halftime with the score being 22-19 and they are currently ranked in the top 4 in the region. Even though we lost the game in the end, we still kept up with them and it was a great game,” said captain Lilyana Salazar.
To keep their team close and to help them get excited for their games, they have some pre game routines. At every game, they get together and say the Hail Mary right before the run out on the court. Another routine that they have is the varsity team going on the court during half time of the JV game and play a short game to get each other pumped and excited for their game.
As the season starts to come to a close and the team starts to prepare themselves for sectionals, they cannot forget about their seniors. The girls senior night game with be January 21st at Griffith. The girls will be getting ready to give it their all that night for the seniors as they wish their teammates and good friends the best of luck in the future.
“I love all of the seniors and have made some amazing memories that I will never forget with them,” said junior, Graze Szymanski.
Student Shout Out
In 2010, Ali Pietrucha broke the Griffith High School girls swimming record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:08.60 and this season freshman Haylie Keene broke that record with a time of 2:05.50. Keene even had the privilege of meeting Pietrucha at conference because she knew a swimmer from Lowell who happened to be cousins with Pietrucha. The night she broke the record, she had no clue how the event was going to turn out.
“I was nervous about breaking the record so I just tried to calm down and focus on getting my best time. In the middle of the race, I didn't know if I was about to break it or not, but at the end, when I tagged the wall, I looked up and waited. I saw my time and screamed so loudly! I did it, finally!” Said Keene.
She started off the season with a 2:13.65 and she had a feeling that she could beat the record as long as she gave it her all at practice and in the meets.
Keene came from a family of many swimmers. For example, her parents coached at Calumet High School before her father came to coach at Griffith. She would use that to her advantage and swim with the Calumet kids for some extra practice. Keene has been swimming since she was seven years old and joined Highland Swim Club at age 11. Keene has always had a love for the sport and has learned to always push hard and try her best.
“if you are not prepared to suffer a bit, then swimming is not your sport,” stated Keene.
Keene’s goals that she set for herself for the rest of the season are to get her time under 2 minutes in the 200 freestyle and break the school’s record for the 100 freestyle.
“My favorite thing about the sport is just being able to be part of a team,” Keene added.