WATERFORD, OH. (WTAP) -
The Waterford High School girls basketball team boarded their newly decorated bus in front of Waterford Elementary School to head to Dayton, Ohio for the Ohio High School Athletic Association Final Four state tournament.
Members of the community, family members, students, and faculty gathered outside with posters wishing the team good luck.
“It means so much,” Senior Riley Schweikert said. “Just watching our parents and friends and family come out, and the community to watch us leave and decorate our bus for us and just show us all their love and support.”
Head Coach Jerry Close said that it is really nice to see the community come out like this to support them.
“This is what you hope for, for your young kids to see this and want to be a part of this someday and that’s what happened with this group, so hopefully we can keep the tradition going,” Close said.
Close said the biggest thing they struggled with early on in the season was team chemistry due to injuries early on.
As the season has continued, the team has come together and played very well with help from everyone all around.
Coach Close said that even with the stress of tournament play, the girls have remained poised and calm.
“We’ve got off to a slow start in a couple of the games but they have responded well,” Close said. “I just think they have come together as a team. You know as long as we play the best that we can play, whatever the outcome is we will deal with.”
The last time the Wildcats made it to the state final four was in 2016, where they won a state championship that year. Coach Close and Schweikert were apart of that winning team. Schweikert said that going as a Senior versus going as a Freshman is two different experiences.
Since she has been there before, Schweikert had some advice for her younger teammates.
“My advice is just to take it all in and just like push as hard as you can at all times because you know no one thought we could be here and by doing our hardest this is how we got here,” Schweikert said.
The Wildcats will play McDonald High School at 2 p.m. Thursday at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
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The Link LonkMarch 11, 2021 at 06:25AM
https://www.wtap.com/2021/03/10/waterford-high-school-girls-basketball-team-gets-a-community-send-off/
Waterford high school girls basketball team gets a community send-off - WTAP
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