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[ot-caption title=”(from left to right) Maria Ballesteros, Asha Taylor, Tori Engler, Andie Weinberg, and Chase Shea are nothing but smiles from their impressive 6-1 record. (via Haley Mordis, freshman)”]
The Pine Crest Girls Basketball Team has started the season out with a bang. After the first few weeks of the season, the Lady Panthers hit the courts with finesse, and for the most part, they haven’t come close to losing. In recent games, PC thrashed rival American Heritage by 43 points (that’s a lot of points), punished St. John Paul II by 18, and wiped the floor with Sheridan Hills Christian. Of course winning is great, but what has truly been outstanding for the tight-knit team is their response to adversity during these tough games early in the season. The girls were forced to dig deep in a see-saw battle on the road against Berean Christian; they hung tough and escaped with a 61-60 win. Unfortunately, the girls faced a loss to their rivals, Saint Andrews, last night, November 23rd. Some games have been tougher than others so far, but the bottom line is this: Pine Crest Girls’ Basketball is making a statement.
Such a successful start to this season is especially significant as the Panthers look to build on a really strong showing from last season. Last year’s squad ended the season with a 14-3 record before bowing out in the District Semifinals. But huge scorer for the team Remi Shea ’15 graduated last year, forcing less experienced players to emerge this year. Remi’s younger sister Chase Shea is also a member of the varsity team; she explains, “We are adjusting well as all of our players are stepping up and taking leadership roles that were left behind by Remi.” Individually, new sophomore Maria Ballesteros and freshman Haley Mordis are contributing tremendously through the early going. And other players including returning sophomore Asha Taylor and senior and captain Tori Engler have made great strides in their development since last season. Head Coach David O’Connell is putting his stamp on the program, and it is evident he’s done good work.
The girls were riding on an unstoppable streak of victory for a total of six games, until they faced head-to-head against Saint Andrews last night at 5:30 on SA territory. The Scots were also 6-0 going into the night, which intensified the game going into the night. Even though this loss is a blow to their undefeated streak, the PC girls don’t plan on letting this bump stand as an obstacle for the rest of their season. They actually plan on using this loss to mature as players and learn from their mistakes. Captain and senior Tori Engler shares later Monday night as she reflects on the game, “Although this game was a lose, it was also a gain for us. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and games like tonight’s are the games that we will learn and grow from. I also know that this game sparked something in us all and we want to work even harder because of it. We’re a family.”
It’s great that the Lady Panthers have started the regular season off so strong, but now it will be put to the test as the the team enters the postseason games in a fight to leave their seniors with a season to remember. The District Championships will be held starting in January. For now though, the next game is on December 1st at 6:00 pm against University School at home and the following day on December 2nd, same time and same place, against Saint John Paul II. Make sure to come out and support your Panthers. For a complete updated schedule and more information, check the Panthers website or this link http://schedules.schedulestar.com/Pine-Crest-High-School-Fort-Lauderdale-FL/season/11-20-2015/Girls/Varsity/Basketball/
