Last week the season ended on a sour note for St. Ed’s varsity girls basketball team, but the lopsided 79-35 loss to a powerful Morningside Academy team will soon be forgotten in favor of the many positive developments that occurred during the 2016-17 campaign for the Pirates and head coach Paula Robinson.
There can be no other takeaway for a team that finished 10-6 after the program went through an arduous rebuilding process that progressed at a snail’s pace. St. Ed’s was a collective 8-20 in Robinson’s first three years, but those numbers tell only part of the tale.
“I’m really happy because in my freshman year we had only four people going into the season and that’s not enough for a team,” junior Maya Jenkins explained. “We were really struggling to put together a team, but the people who decided to play that year stuck with it the whole time. Everything just kept building from there and it’s really good now.”
Jenkins was the top scorer for both sides with 21 points vs. Morningside. She was the consistent team leader this season, averaging over 16 points and just under 10 rebounds per game. Her role changed this year and she credited her teammates for helping to make everything work to the extent it did.
“I was in the post this year getting a lot of rebounds,” she said. “All of the previous years I was a guard, but I got moved down low because we had enough people who knew how to handle the ball. Everything I accomplished was made possible by other people getting the ball to an open area. It was only possible because other people knew what they were supposed to do.
“I think we are on an upward trend and everybody is looking forward to next year.”
Optimism has been reinfused in the program all the way down to the middle school. That’s a critical component in sustaining the momentum.
“It’s just a great feeling to know that we’ve been working all of these years to help build this program and to see it come to fruition,” Robinson told us. “The girls that we’ve had this year are into basketball. They are very competitive, they come to practice every day, and when they come they give 100 percent. That’s what any coach wants to see. It’s very gratifying.
“I’m pretty excited about what we have here, especially because we didn’t have any seniors. Maya and Tea (junior point guard Tea Tee) have been with the program since I’ve been here. It’s good to know that they will continue to lead by example. The girls are all in and I can’t wait to see what’s coming up next year. I want to see who comes in from the middle school and how they will fit in.”
During the season Elise Mallon averaged 9 points per game and Zion Atwater chipped in with 6. Both are only freshmen. Tee and Sophomore Katy Rodriguez contributed 7 and 4, respectively. The potential for growth with this core is enormous – however, the return of Atwater is up in the air at this point.
“I feel like I learned a lot this year especially playing against teams that might have been better than us,” Atwater said. “I also learned a lot from my teammates and coaches. I developed some new techniques on the court. All in all it was very educational, and it was a lot of fun as well.
“I’m discussing with my parents about whether to go to Vero next year. I will be playing basketball, but I don’t know if it will be at VBHS or here at St. Edward’s.”
Certainly Robinson would prefer to see Atwater – one of her “bigs” along with Jenkins – back at St. Ed’s. There is no such concern about her second leading scorer.
“It was just amazing to be able to play with these people,” Mallon said. “I actually played with Maya and Tea when I was in sixth grade and they were in eighth grade. I was obviously not as good as them and it was fun to mesh with them more this year as my skills have improved.
“I look up to Maya and Tea so much. They’ve taught me to keep my cool during games when things are not going my way. I’ve learned techniques from them that made me feel more confident on the court.
“We’ve really worked well together as a team this year and I have enjoyed it. It’s great because from the beginning of the year everyone has improved tremendously. Next year we are going to be bigger, stronger and even more experienced.
“I can’t wait to see where this team will go.”
