As the winter season comes to an end at Malden High School, the Girls Varsity Basketball team is looking forward to an exciting offseason, preparing to find the right players for their team for the upcoming season next year.
Marino stated that it wasn’t going to be easy to find players fit for the positions of the five seniors that are leaving. “[They] lose 5 key players, 3 big starters”, and it will be very difficult to find the right people to take their places.
Marino knew that after a certain point it was no longer necessary to constantly remind the girls about their goals. They were aware of what needed to happen in order to achieve them.
With half the team leaving, Marino hopes that returning members next year will be examples and role models and lead the newer and possibly younger members on the team. His goal is to find another point guard during the offseason .
Number 23, senior, Tiffany Tortora stated that “the highlight of [her] season would be when [the girls] would win on the road, the bus rides back home. [With] all three teams, [freshman, jv, and varsity] celebrating the win, [they] all created a strong [bond between the teams]".
Tortora added that winning 10 games also made her season one to remember. To go along with that, Marino mentions that they ended the season with the record of 10-11, which is Malden High’s best record since the 2003 - 2004 season. Unfortunately just barely missing the requirements for the MIAA state tournament.
Tortora also says that “other than playing and competing [she] will miss [her] teammates as well as [the] coach, who [motivated them since] the beginning". She knew this year was going to be different. It was the seniors last shot to make an impact and leave a legacy for the program. Not only that but “the seniors can always look back and know [they] set the bar high for future teams to exceed” stated Tortora.
Number 22, junior, Salma Bezzat said that being a captain significantly impacted her season. Not only did she have to find the responsibility but the leadership roles for being captain. She mentions that Marino is always changing up the program for improvement. She also said that “[she has] never had a coach so passionate about basketball and skilled as he [is]”.
Bezzat, like a majority of the team, thinks that their record is the highlight of her season. The team didn’t only surpass their previous season’s record but they were also one game away from making it to the state tournament. Bezzat stated that she is “sad to see the season go, but [she is] excited for [her] last season as a senior next year”.
Overall, the team’s hard work paid off. By communicating and practicing they were able to accomplish many of their goals from the beginning of the year.
