Record: 5-11
Ronnie Alvarado, head VWS basketball coach:
Challenges: “Due to the nature of our competitive league we had to find ways to adapt and build solid fundamentals that enabled us to still progress even through stiff competition. Navigating this year still in the wake of COVID has also been a hardship that has taxed athletes mentally and physically. This was also a great learning opportunity for the team to learn skills that enable them to face unforeseeable challenges and conquer them with relentless perseverance.”
Successes: “The greatest success of the season is how our team came together collectively to support each other on and off the court. The senior leadership on the team bonded the younger generation to best prepare them for the upcoming seasons. Our team capitalized on building unity through adversity and learned the value of strength as a whole unit.”
Highlight Athlete: “Well, Marie Blake (‘22) was the MVP of our team and is on the second CIF team. Besides the accolades, I believe Marie flourished in a new way away from the stat book. She was pushed to be a vocal and unifying leader. She had to find ways that helped a diverse athletic team to all continue to progress collectively. Prior to this year, Marie led with her basketball ability but this year, she stepped out of her comfort zone and invested in her teammates’ lives to find ways to aid them in relationships off the court. Basketball is more than what you do as an individual on the court during 32 minutes of gameplay. Basketball teaches you the value of teamwork, and real-life skills such as hard work, time management, overcoming adversity, triumph in loss and so on.”
Marie Blake (‘22):
Challenges: “We placed in a heavily competitive league for my junior and senior years with open division teams and Division 1 commits. As captain, it’s definitely hard to encourage teammates when we’re losing by 50 points in a game.”
Successes: “However, a success we had this season was overcoming this challenge. I think we became a lot better as a team and felt comfortable around each other, which reflected on the court. I’m so proud of how my teammates played throughout this season, both the good and the bad.
Favorite Memory: “My favorite memories are coming back to Webb after away games. Whether we lost by 20 or 100 points or even miraculously won somehow, the energy we had on the bus was always the same.”
