The sound of squeaking shoes and a cheering crowd has become a mainstay for the varsity girls basketball team. The team played their best throughout the season; despite some tough losses, they managed to secure victories against teams like Novi and Northville, resulting in a final record of six wins and 14 losses.

“The season started off a little shaky, but we found our team chemistry and made a run. We had a lot of fun and loved competing everyday,” junior Gracyn Houck said.

The team this year was very young in terms of its composition and had only one senior yet three freshmen on the varsity team. Usually varsity teams are mostly upperclassmen; however, the team’s young makeup provides a foundation with the potential to grow in future years. Even despite the unusual composition, a shared background among many and strong relationships nevertheless allowed them to develop a strong dynamic.

“The team dynamic the whole time was great. We are all best friends, and most of us have been playing with each other since kindergarten. We do so much team bonding that really helps,” junior Anna Minnick said. 

Part of what made this dynamic so strong was the work the girls put into it outside of the court as well.

“We love playing Among Us with each other before and after practices, and even have sleepovers where we play among ourselves and other games,” Minnick said. 

Team dynamic is not the only important thing in a basketball team; performance is also key. Minnick said one of the best moments was when Brighton “beat Northville (#2 in our conference), and all of [the girls] were jumping around and cheering.”

Despite facing some tough competitors, the young varsity team had lots of opportunities this year to grow and build connections within their team and will have opportunities to continue to build on this as the years go on to create a stronger team.