Senior Tiffany Tortora barrels through Winthrop's defensive players. Photo by Jesaias Benitez.
The Malden High Girls Varsity Basketball team “has been very determined this season” stated Head Coach Scott Marino. Marino believes that the girls will continue to fight toward their preseason goals, which is to make it to the state tournament.
Currently their record is at 7-7 (7 wins and 7 losses). Marino explained that “[The] season has been a little inconsistent, [the team] beat the teams [they should have] beaten, and [they] lost a lot of close games this year”. Already, the girls have won more games this year than they did last year, leaving them 6 more possible wins before the season ends. With only 6 games left in the season, 3 more wins are needed as a requirement to make it to the state tournament.
After the previous season last year, the girls came back ambitious as ever. They had set many goals for themselves, from changing the chemistry of the team to changing the way they play on the court during games.
This year, the team only lost 3 seniors at the end of the previous season, meaning the team had many returning members. Newer members of the team include sophomore Meley Ephrem, sophomore Darcy Cummings, junior Camille Nommi, and senior Zariah Stringer-Silva.
They have yet to accomplish some longer term goals such as making it to the tournament (states), and drastically improving their record. Senior, Mackenzie Furlong said that the team “[tries] to stay positive even during bad games to stay focused to work toward [their] goal of making it to the state tournament. But throughout the season the girls were able to strengthen the bonds and chemistry together.
Marino has strived to kept the girls on track and made sure they were improving. He says that “Everyday at practice, [the team tries] to work on things they can improve on. [They] work on fundamentals and try to capitalize on all [their] mistakes.” As the season passed by, Marino has gotten the chance to get to know the new members as well as the returning members of the team. During games and practice Marino examines and gets to know each players strengths and weaknesses.
Despite the areas the girls need improvement in, Marino thinks that “[the team does] a very good job getting to the free throw line and converting our free throws.”
Throughout the season, the girls went up against many schools. Marino stated that “[they have had] really close games with Lynn English, Swampscott, and Beverly”. Furlong mentioned that she was “excited to play Everett because they are Malden’s biggest rival for years.” Junior Salma Bezzat was “excited to play Somerville and Everett because [she] knew [it would] be an intense game”
Overall, the Girls Basketball Team has had a successful season so far and has high hopes for the remainder of the season.
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