Malden High Girls Varsity Basketball went up against Snowden International on Tuesday, December 12, 2017. The girls are off to a good start to the season, with a 45 to 18 win against Snowden, during their first home game. Assistant coach and guidance counselor Taryn Belowsky stated that a key play from the game was when “[Junior Camille Nommi] in a corner, double team, cross court pass to [Senior Xue Zhou] wide open, and took a layup”.
Head Coach Scott Marino, thought “[the team] played a good first half, but [they] have to get better and improve from [their] mistakes.” Marino stated that the team always has something to improve on. He listed many skills such as “mental toughness and communication”.
Zhou explained how she thought “[the team] did good during the game, but [there is] still room to improve”. She went further to explain that the team “[could have scored] more if [they] persecuted [their] offense sets”. During the game, Zhou kept herself relaxed and had a positive mindset.
Junior Salma Bezzat believed that the team “did okay”, she said that “[they should not] have allowed [Snowden] to [score as many points in the second half].” Bezzat prepared for the game, by making sure she knew their plays.
Both Bezzat and Zhou shared how the team gets to games early to either practice together or individually. They not only practice drills, but they also practice layups.
Before the game, the team practiced individually by practicing layups and warmed up for the game. After, as a team, they formed two parallel lines, the person on one side would throw the ball to the person on the other side, and once that person caught the ball they would shoot. As they got through the line, the girls would be more and more prepared for the game.
Malden had an early lead, carrying out throughout the game. Due to their defense, the opposing team did not score until third quarter. That motivated the MHS team to work harder on their defense and hopefully improve more in the future.
This first game definitely hyped the girls up for the new season, especially with a win. This win will push the girls to strive to get better and better each game, even during a loss.
