Four Years of Basketball Has Paid Off for Seniors

by JAE HAGAR

This has been the last season for the seniors, when it comes to High School Basketball. This year's lady seniors include: Shannon Carter, Brittney Erb, Abi Biggs, Sam Tveidt, Kitanya Crisman, Kylee Fite, and Jenny Field. This season has been bitter-sweet for all of them. After losing to the Baker Bulldogs on Wednesday, February 17th,  Abi Biggs said, “I probably won’t play basketball again, if we don’t get a state play-in game.” Biggs, along with the majority of the Varsity girls team are softball players. Basketball is just a time passing sport for them, and only Erb plans to play in college.

Mac-Hi Seniors: Top row left to right: Kylee Fite, Kitanya Crisman, Brittney Erb, Sam Tveidt, & Abi Biggs.
Bottom row: Jenny Field & Shannon Carter

Field played the first few games, but had to quit due to family problems. Field has been an active member of the basketball program in the past, and is very passionate about the sport and the team, as well as the players. Crisman told me that Field would have played the whole season if it had not been for the family problems. The team missed Field, and hopes she will be active in the softball season.

Crisman and Fite have also not been able to play the past few games due to injuries. Fite has a bad shoulder that she knew about when the season started, but it wasn’t going to stop her... until it did. She helped with team management though. Crisman went out with a foot injury and also helped out with team jobs. Both help with stats, and still call themselves part of the basketball program. Tveidt was injured during the game against Baker but will hopefully be able to play the spring sport that she likes, tennis.

The team took on the Valley Catholic Valiants, without Tveidt, and fell, valiantly. The seniors played their best, knowing it could be their last game. When they realised there was no hope, they did not give up. The graduating Varsity girls basketball players will miss their coach, Brook Garton, and the younger members of the program. If you see them, congratulate them for making it to a play-in game, because it had been a long time since the Pioneers made it that far, and wish them luck in their future endeavors. GO PIONEERS!