Hello! I hope everyone had a great holiday! I know that I am looking forward to the new year! This is a good time of year to set new goals for yourself and to do your best to achieve them. The Lady Mariners have set many team goals. We want to work our hardest both on and off the court. Our team has Coach Juni and Coach Guida to make sure we stay on task. I have also set personal goals to become a better student, sister, friend, teammate, and mentor.
Every year I try to set goals. What is your goal? We won our first league game against Mercy! It was a great game because we came out strong and played aggressively. Maybe a little too aggressively because my sister Noël picked up three fouls before halftime and Sunceri Cofield tweaked her ankle playing in-your-face defense. Sunceri is our team warrior—she brings energy to our team and she is fearless on the court. Thank God her ankle is okay. As a team, we pulled together and defeated Mercy. Our goal is to play every game with intensity and contend for the League VII championship.
We also had the opportunity to play a non-league game against John Glenn. One of the girls on the team, Mackenzie Sivelli, is on my AAU team and I followed them last year during the playoffs, so I knew they were a tough team. The girls were long and pretty quick. We missed a lot of shots and the referee told us after the game that it was as if our basket had Saran Wrap on it. Nothing would drop. We started out 0-for-12 and we were never able to come back. I realized mid-first quarter that I wouldn’t be able to drive at this team because the 6 foot 2 inch girl wasn’t having it. I had to resort to my jump shot but it was hard to get it off because of the defense that they played. I hope we never have a game like that because I know we could have done better.
I also saw the boys Christmas tournament sponsored by SYS. The Mariners played Bridgehampton first and then East Hampton. It was exciting to watch the championship game because the teams were neck and neck at the end. In the beginning the Mariners came out flat and went down but in the end they fought back and were able to win the game. Everyone played well. Congrats to everyone who made All Tournament and MVP!
I would like to recognize the entire Mariners student body in their quest for excellence in all aspects of school because it is not all about basketball or whatever sport you play. I hope everyone stays happy and healthy in the new year. A special shout-out to Pauline Delacruz and our girls JV basketball team for their recent win! Talk to you soon.
As Coach Juni says, “Good, better, best, never let it rest!”
-Paris Hodges
on Jan 1, 2012