By Asher Beimert and Micah Schock
Forest Lake, Minn. – The NLA girls basketball team recently played its last game of the year against Liberty Classical Academy, on February 20th, losing with a final score of 33 – 65. The loss was tough, but the team’s growth over the season is a real success story.
“The season was definitely challenging for the girls because we have a lot of beginner players,” said Aleena Riviere (10), one of the captains.
Brenna Theisen (11), the team’s other captain, emphasized hard work.
“[The season was] good; it was a lot of positivity and working through the tough stuff.”
Coach Jeff Beimert considers the season a success for a young team.
“We knew going into this season we were going to be a very young and inexperienced team at the Varsity level. If you look at the season as a whole, the team showed tremendous growth, and I am looking forward to that continued growth into next season,” Beimert said.
As far as growth and improvement, it came in many different aspects of the game.
“I think it is really hard to pick just one player who improved the most. So many girls on the team showed a lot of growth,” he said.
One season highlight was the immense community support.
“This was by far the most supportive [the community] has been for a girls team in my time here,” Beimert said.
Another highlight was the first win of the season.
“We had played our opponent for that game earlier in the season and lost by 22 points. To come back and win by 18 points was a testament to the work ethic and positive attitude of this team,” Beimert said. Theisen also agreed that this win was a major highlight.
While the season had its challenges, it was, overall, a success.
“It took time and it was not always perfect due to our experience and youth, but we knew this team was going to have to play good team basketball for us to be successful,” Riviere said.
