By GABRIELLE SHIOZAWA
Moapa Valley Progress
The purpose of high school sports tournaments is to compete with other teams, learn new skills, and come away stronger.
Some of the best parts of tournaments, however, are the moments that happen off the playing field. This week, we’ll take a look at what goes on at girls’ basketball tournaments when our Lady Pirates come off the court.
The girls’ basketball team is roughly halfway done with their 2018-19 season. They competed in three tournaments this year: the Lake Mead Christian Tournament, the Lady Bulldog Invitational, and the Gator Winter Classic. The latter, an overnight tournament, gave the girls’ team the biggest opportunity for bonding and learning to work together as a team, on and off the court.
Senior Peyton Schraft spoke about the sentimentality of playing in her last-ever high school basketball tournament.
“My favorite part was just being with the team and having fun playing basketball at this tournament for the last time,” said Schraft.
Freshman Emma Humes commented, “It’s definitely weird being the only freshman, but it’s kind of cool to have these experiences so young, and the older girls make it so I fit right in!”
Senior Ashlyn Western added that some of the best times at the tournament were spent watching TV together in their hotel rooms and making fun of the silly shows.
“It was a fun time with the girls,” said Western. “I’m glad we all get along!”
The girls competed against a variety of big schools, performed well, and even made it to the tournament’s gold bracket.
“We got closer as a team both winning and losing,” said Humes. “I think that’s very important.”
