The Mount Greylock varsity girls basketball team had an exceptional season this year and more than doubled the number of victories they achieved last year, when they won five regular- season games. Freshman Naelyn Robinson explained that the regular season is made up of 20 games across Western Massachusetts. At the time of speaking with the girls’ head coach, Jabari Powell, the record this season for the varsity team was 11 wins to seven losses.
At the end of the season, there is the Divisional State Championship where teams play tournament-style for the title of best in Massachusetts. To qualify, “You just have to win 10 games,” Robinson said. This year, they did that well before the season was even over, after failing to qualify last year.
The team had to work for this, though, and their journey was not free of close calls. Powell highlighted a home game against Easthampton on January 9th. “The game was back and forth,” Powell said, as the teams traded the lead many times. In the end, Mount Greylock was able to pull out a 41-39 win. Another great game for the girls was the January 15th game against Pioneer Valley. “They beat us earlier in the year,” said Powell, “then we came back and beat them in overtime.” The final score of this game was 44-45 – another nailbiter!
What makes this feat even more impressive is how young the team is, Powell said, noting that they have only three seniors. In addition to all of this, the junior varsity team has also had a great season. “The JV team is really young,” said Powell, “and they’ve played everybody really well.”
After the state championships, some girls will continue playing with Amateur Athletic Union teams near Albany or Lenox. As they continue to hone their skills, the future for Mount Greylock’s girls basketball teams looks bright.
