The Malden High Girls Varsity Basketball Team went up against Peabody on December 21, 2017. The girls started off the season with a record of 1-2. Despite their 58-44 loss, the girls are hoping to improve on their 5-15 record from the previous season, as well as their teamwork and coordination, to proceed and develop their skills.
During the third quarter, Malden gained a total of 30 points, catching up to Peabody, only 10 points off. Unfortunately, they were unable to score enough points in the fourth quarter to beat Peabody.
Senior captain Mackenzie Furlong stated that “[she does not] dwell on [her] mistakes [hoping to prevent mistakes amongst her other team mates].” Furlong ended up playing a majority of the game, contributing many points to the final score. She had a role in many of the plays, whether she was the one taking the shot or if she was helping the team bring the ball closer to the hoop.
Senior Xue Zhou explained how catching up to Peabody made the girls push harder, due to the fact that they had a stronger chance of winning. She adds that “[They believed] that [the team could have] won the game”, the close score encouraged the girls to score more and be more responsible with the decision they make with the ball.
Junior captain Salma Bezzat stated that she tries her best to “remember what [her] goal is”, even when she is exhausted during the games. Like Furlong, Bezzat does not dwell on her past mistakes, she inspects her mistakes, what she did wrong, and simply avoids it for the next game and the future.
Both the coach and the players agree that in order to improve their record this season, they need to work on their defense. Due to their lack of defense in this game, Peabody got an early lead and managed to keep that lead throughout all four quarters of the game. The players agreed that if they stepped up their defense, they would have at least stopped Peabody from scoring so much.
Zhou mentioned how the team “[could have] won the game if [they kept their] consistency with both offense and defense.” She went further to explain that by simply thinking positive they were motivated to work better as a team and work harder on scoring. As a result, the team improved their score greatly in the third quarter and in the final.
Furlong mentioned how “the vibe was off on the court”. Bezzat agreed by stating “[the team was not] mentally ready to win, no one wanted it”. By critiquing and reviewing herself and the team, Bezzat is encouraging the rest of the team to improve and make sure they know what they’re improving on and how.
