Sixteen More Minutes, Get Ready, Game On!

By: Gabrielle K.

From left to right: Lexi Bowman, Carlie Powell, Zoe Hiss, and Brooke Roberts

Copyright: B. Roberts

The West Jefferson Girls Basketball team ended their hard-fought season on Saturday, February 24, 2019, against Johnstown-Monroe during the tournaments’ second round. The team ended their winning season—finishing 12-11—with four graduating Seniors. The Seniors, Brooke Roberts, Carlie Powell, Zoe Hiss, and Lexi Bowman, took the time to rejoice, remember, and recap their high school basketball careers last week.

These four Seniors are no joke when it comes to playing basketball. Hiss states that she first began playing basketball at the age of three with her siblings, learning the game by watching them play street ball together. Bowman and Powell began playing around the age of five and six with WJYAA pee-wee basketball, while Roberts joined in and began to play in the second grade. However, no matter what age it was that they started playing basketball, they all knew how to play the game when it came to high school basketball. On top of their knowledge for the game, they were completely aware of the fact that they always had room for improvement. They wanted to better themselves as not only players but people as well.

When asked about one thing they wished they could have changed or bettered throughout their high school basketball careers, they didn’t hesitate to speak up. Roberts answered first, claiming that she wished she: “could have improved her shot more” and “taken her Freshman and Sophomore year more seriously”. Bowman and Powell agreed with Roberts’ statement, adding on in their own words as well.

Bowman speaks, in addition to Roberts’ second answer. “When you’re younger, you kind of just joke around and then you blink and it’s senior year, last game and it’s...It’s a lot.” Powell nods, beginning to answer as well.

“I wish I would’ve taken the opportunity to get better when my dad would tell me, “Hey, you want to go shoot for a little bit?” instead of saying, “Eh, no.” and not taking the time,” Powell states.

Hiss explains that she wished she would have played basketball her Freshman year, despite how stressful the year was for her. She also adds on by saying, “But if I had changed something, I would’ve worked harder outside of just practice and I probably would’ve stayed after [practice] more because now that it’s over, you can’t change anything.”

The next question hit the girls harder than the first and they definitely responded in a way that was memorable. When asked about one thing they’ll miss from their high school basketball career, each of them smiled or fake-cried with laughs; surely, they were thinking back on all of the great times they had. Bowman takes the lead on this one, answering right away.

“I’m going to miss my life-long friends that I’ve gained from it [basketball].” She starts off with, stopping a bit to think of more to add to her statement. “That’s one hard thing, losing your friends. I mean, you really get to know someone through four years of basketball and you learn something new about someone each day. You just grow up with the people and then leaving them finally, going separate ways, it kinda sucks because you’re not as close as what you once were.” Roberts nods, agreeing with Bowman’s answer before answering as well.

“Hands down, the people. It’s not fun without the people. I’ll miss playing with my sister [Freshman, Taylor Roberts], I’ll miss playing with all of you guys [the team]...” She speaks, nodding in agreement with her own statement. Powell agrees, adding on in her own words as well.

“I mean, we’re together every day because it’s a long season so it’s like, we become family,” she states, in regards to Bowman’s answer.

Hiss also states that she’ll miss her teammates and how close they all were together. “My teammates really made a big impact on me during this season and—oh my, I’m getting emotional because it’s over—I think I’m going to miss them a lot.” She begins to tear up as she answers before speaking up again. “They’re so just… they’re really nice people and you really get to know them in your past four years and they just become your family. So when it’s over, it’s just like, I’m really going to miss them. They’re the one thing that you can carry home with you and all of those memories you’ve made with them. So, that’s going to be really hard to just move on from.”

While the four of them knew exactly how to answer that question, the next one stumped a few. Not because they couldn’t answer it, but because they didn’t know how to phrase it or put anything into words to explain it.

“Has basketball helped you in any other aspects of your life besides just the sport itself?” The girls took a few minutes to think of something to respond with before speaking up. Hiss knew exactly how to answer, taking the lead.

“Yeah. Basketball taught me that if you want something, you’re gonna go get it. And you’re gonna make things happen if that’s something you really want,” she begins with, speaking in a confident voice. “And in the basketball aspect, it was shooting. So for me, my Senior year, I finally was like, “I want to be a good shooter”. So, once I started working on that and focusing on that, I realized that this applies to me outside [of basketball]. So, if I really want to do something, like if I want to major in Psychology, I’m going to put in that work. And outside of school, I’m going to study hard and do what I need to do in order to get where I want to be.”

Roberts also answers confidently as well, mentioning how another sport has helped her in her life as well.

“I don’t know if it was just through basketball—it was probably through softball too—I felt like I really was able to become who I am, you know?” She replies confidently in her answer. “Like, find who I am and who I truly was through athletics.”

Bowman nods in reply to Roberts’ answer while Powell speaks up again. “It’s made me better at working together with people because like, I’m not—I don’t know—with school and stuff or activities, I’m like, “No.” She jokes a bit, talking about working in groups for schoolwork, before speaking again. “But when we all have to come together and be out there as a team, it really helps you to not just be an individual.”

The four Seniors also shared a good laugh when asked about their favorite or funniest moments from the season. Each girl struggled with picking just one memory, but in the end, they all picked a favorite memory from their most memorable year: Senior year.

Roberts laughed a bit as she remembered her favorite memory from a non-league game during the girls’ Senior season.

“We were playing Kipp Academy and I made Verse [the high school girls basketball coach] laugh. I made him laugh and I said, “I have a virus” because I missed my lay-up and he laughed and it was just genuine.” The rest of the girls laugh as they nod and remember the memory as well. “That’s probably just like, the one that comes to my head but I have so many memories with everyone. I mean, I liked creeping out Megan [McClish] because it’s one of my favorite things to do,” she adds on as everyone laughs once more.

Powell laughs before she speaks up about her favorite memory. “My favorite was being called, “Nan.” It was just so funny but I mean, it got a little weird when other people from other teams were going, “Why are they calling her Nana?” but it was really funny.” Powell was referred to as “the grandma” of the team. She also adds another memory later on. “Definitely like, the birthday party and when we went out to eat together. Well, we didn’t go out to eat as much this year but we’ve definitely had our fair share. Like, the weather was so bad but we would always have little outings that were fun.”

Bowman took the time to think of a memory before responding with a statement that brought up a good point and was pretty impressive. “Man, this is hard,” she jokes. “It’s just—it’s hard because I have memories with everyone and I don’t know if there’s one I can really choose.”

Of course, every teammate shares individual memories with certain people or even a group of people. Some of the best memories we all share happen when we least expect them. However, the fact that some memories occur with different people must always be taken into consideration. Each memory we remember and think about can be considered one of our favorites within a certain moment, especially when we share so many with the people we’re close to.

The Senior girls also took the time to each give a piece of advice. Whether a younger basketball player, high school student, parent or teacher, etc. is reading this, these girls gave amazing advice to keep in mind.

Hiss: “Time goes by fast, and everyone tells you this. But until you experience that everything is over, you don’t realize how fast time is going. And you can’t go back, so do everything you want to do now and work as hard as you can because even if you don’t want to do it at the moment, you’re going to wish you did something different later on. So, always take every second with everything you’ve got...and don’t ever stop pushing yourself.”

Roberts: “Soak it all in while you have it because high school really does go by fast and you don’t really think about it until you’re here and then you’re going to graduate.”

Bowman: “Don’t take anything for granted, live everything up to the moment, don’t just joke around with it like we said [Freshman and Sophomore year]. Just take it seriously because as soon as you blink, it’s Senior year and it’s your last game and it’s all over. Unless you’re playing it in college but it’s still not the same as high school. Everything is different and...and it sucks.”

Powell: “I think—not just with basketball—I’ll always want people to give it their all, so I become very angry,” she laughs. “You know, when people wouldn’t really try and I don’t know, I just think it’s kind of made me a better person and a leader. You know, learning that you can’t just yell at someone, you have to just be like, “Come on, you got it.” In regards to having to step up and let others know their purpose for being on the team and working to become better: “I want to see people succeed.”

West Jefferson will miss these four dearly. As they move forward into their futures, we wish nothing but the best for each and every one of them. The village of West Jefferson will not be the same without these four Seniors on the courts, fields, gyms, or even in the high school hallways. However, their legacy will always live on. Their basketball careers will always be remembered, just as they will.