The JV girls basketball team had a slow start to the season with an opening tournament in Libertyville going 0-3, but turned things around quick and had three straight wins after. Ever since, the Sequoits have been trying to keep a good mentality by leaning on each other throughout the season.

“The team has bonded and allowed for trust in one another,” sophomore Ariana Nikolov said. “You can really tell how our performances have improved since the beginning of the season.”

Early on, the team had to adjust because many freshmen made the team and came from different middle schools. However, once the Sequoits found a way to mesh together, it was smooth sailing. They always focus on the team aspect of basketball and look for ways that everyone can take a part in each game, whether it’s a win or a loss.

“Our main strategy going into a game is just to play our game and don’t play down to other teams’ levels,” freshman Mia Kaiser said. “We tell ourselves to keep our intensity level up the whole game and we each focus on something that we have worked on and can contribute to a win.”

The team has been taking on a new look to the way they practice to help with the way they play on game days. They are constantly looking for ways to change and grow as a team.

“A major change we have made for upcoming games is how hard we have been practicing,” junior Kaley Purcell said. “Before, our practices were mostly based on running plays, but now our focus is to move faster, more aggressively and communicating more on the court.”

The team is hoping to make these adjustments carefully to make winning even more possible going into the second half of the season where the Sequoits start to play other teams for the second time. The team is looking to improve their record of 9-9 in their next game against North Chicago.