By: Lanie Roberts
The Lady Lions basketball team experienced several setbacks during the season but always found a way to fight back. The team ended with a 6-18 record. Even though they did not have a winning season, the girls stuck together as a team.
Early in the season, the team lost a starting player to an ACL injury. Senior Kirsten Sexton went down in the Eastern game and unfortunately could not make a return. In the middle of the season, another starting player went down with an injury. Senior Kendall Hickey suffered an ankle injury and was not able to play for the rest of the season.
“It's always tough when you lose players that you are counting on, especially when they have as much experience as Kendall and Kirsten,” said Coach Jerry Hickey
Hickey has been a basketball coach for 23 years, 11 of those years with Salem. With two of the five starting players unable to play anymore, other team members had to step up. According to Coach Hickey, seniors Sarah Heightchew, Maggie Gibson and Bree Carey were those people. All three drastically increased their minutes and scoring averages.
This year’s seniors were: Allison Clodfelter, Lanie Roberts, Gibson, Carey, Sexton, Hickey and Heightchew. The coach said the seniors brought leadership, character and their play on the floor. They logged the majority of the varsity minutes for this season.
Hickey was a leader on the floor before she got hurt. Afterwards, Roberts had to step up and take over with the help of sophomore Sidney Burton. Burton was the leading scorer for the Lady Lions and was a natural leader on the floor. Hickey continued leading the team from the sidelines.
With graduating seven seniors, there is bound to be a growing period for next season. Coach Hickey is confident in the girls’ ability to pick up the game fast though. He said that it will be difficult to replace the senior players’ knowledge of the game and positive demeanor.
Even though the Lady Lions did not win that many games, Coach Hickey still considers this season to be a successful one. He said it was a positive year, with players sticking together.
“Almost every night the team’s defense allowed them to stay competitive. This was a year that even though we didn't win as many games as we would have liked, I still wasn't ready for the season to end,” Coach Hickey said.
Hickey has been playing for her father her entire life. She said playing for him was an honor. Even though the season did not go as she planned, Hickey was able to continue to cheer on her team. She showed up to every practice and game ready to help where she could. She created game plans with the coach and sat on the side lines encouraging the other players. On the team's senior night, Hickey went back on the court to receive the tip off. Even though she was unable to play, she was able to go onto the court one last time with her teammates.
“I am so grateful that I got to have that last time stepping on the court with my friends,” Hickey said.
Being a sophomore on a team of seniors had its upsides and downsides. Burton said the team had really great chemistry. Her dad is the team's assistant coach. She said that playing with her dad was difficult. She felt that there were higher expectations from him. Burton had to step up to fill in the shoes left behind from the two seniors getting hurt and was able to play as a post player and a shooting guard on any given night.
“This year’s team will forever be my favorite team because of how close I’ve grown with the seniors and my other teammates,” she said.