As of Feb. 9th, the Girls Varsity Basketball team has 7-14, ranked 18th in Central Coast Section Division 1 according to MaxPreps. The team has struggled in recent times, but has never backed down from a fight.
The season hasn’t really gone the way we expected, Head Coach Tyrone Monroe said.
“We’ve had some key injuries, as well as a flu bug that went through the team that has slowed our progress down,” Monroe said.
The team has good chemistry, and everyone gets along with each other, Monroe said.
“I would only hope that they would be willing to hold each other a little more accountable in terms of certain situations,” Monroe said.
The team’s rivalry game against Piedmont High was a good moment this season, Monroe said.
“I think one of the games was against Piedmont Hills, it’s one of the rivalry teams that we play against, and I believe we beat them in overtime,” Monroe said.
Monroe was proud to see his players fight through adversity and injuries and to see his players grow, he said.
“I think just being able to fight through some of the adversity that we’ve had as a team, in terms of the same health issues, things that we didn’t have control over,” Monroe said. “We have the mentality of having the next person up, and I thought the girls stepped in and did their best when they had the opportunity.”
The freshman team was added after Monroe’s eight years of coaching in Milpitas, he said. The freshman team has about fourteen girls, he added.
“We had a freshman team that had about fourteen girls on it, we have a JV and a varsity team, and so our future looks bright,” Monroe said. “I think a lot of the kids are excited about Milpitas girls basketball again, and we’re going to continue to build a foundation. We qualified for the playoffs the last few years. We won our first playoff game last year. That’s the goal for the team this year is to be able to get back into the CCS and maybe even take it another step further.”
One of the team captains on the varsity team is senior Breanna Onyegegbu.
“Being a team captain to me this season is just like being a good role model for my teammates, making sure that I’m there for them and being accountable for them,making sure that they’re getting the advice and the leadership they need,” Onyegegbu said.
Difficult moments in the game force the team to make tough decisions, and Onyegegbu tries her best to keep everyone focused, she said.
“(I) help everyone slow down and breathe and just refocus on the situation and try our best to just communicate with each other instead of just holding it within themselves,” Onyegegbu said.
There are a lot of challenges that come with being a team captain, especially when it comes to responsibilities and communication which one has to keep within the team Onyegegbu said.
“Everyone takes in something and advice differently, so it’s hard to try and comply to everyone’s reactions,” Onyegegbu said. “I feel like that’s a big part in being a team captain, because not everyone’s gonna like what you have to say.”
Communication within the team is something that always needs work, Onyegegbu said.
“Our team hasn’t had the best communication this season, and I get it because we’ve had a lot of things go down with our team,” Onyegegbu said. “Like my coach said, we’ve had a lot of sicknesses and injuries, which plays a big part because we’re playing with different people every time. So I feel like just being there for everyone, and just especially team bonding.”
This season has been a lot of ups and downs for the team, junior Angie Nguyen said. They would love to make the playoffs but as of now it depends on how other teams do and their remaining games are must win, she added.
“As my captain and coach said, we’ve had a lot of sickness and injuries,” Nguyen said. “I’ve been battling with an injury for the past few years, so it’s been ups and downs trying to figure everything out with how we’re gonna play through all these injuries and sickness.”
Teamwork is really necessary, especially team chemistry, Nguyen said.
“So throughout the season, we’ve been working on our team chemistry and teamwork,” Nguyen said. “Like, obviously, we still need to work on it, but it’s improving throughout every single practice and game that we’ve gone through.”
Over the season, Nguyen has become calmer and learned how to control the ball better, she said.
“I think over this year, I’ve definitely learned how to play a lot more calm, like how to control the ball better, and my basketball IQ and vision has improved a lot since freshman year,” Nguyen said. “This year, especially, it helped me, like my vision helped improve tremendously, especially with the things that I can look for and post, but also kick out my career.”
