Teamwork Puts Exeter Girls' Basketball on Top

The Exeter girls’ basketball team improved their record to 10-1 on the season with a 59-41 win at Choate Rosemary Hall last Saturday, extending their win streak to four. “The whole team played awesome. It was by far our best team played game,” senior Nicole Heavirland said.Upper Courtney Henrich agreed. “We played great team basketball against a solid Choate team,” she said. “The passing and unselfishness was at a high level.”Lower Michelle Bosche credited the team’s play in all phases of the game for the road win. “We hustled up and down the court on every play. It was probably our best offensive game yet, in terms of how well it worked. Our defense was also working well,” Bosche said.The starting five for the Big Red played a large role in the squad’s win. Despite missing a few practices leading up to Saturday’s matchup, lower Peace Kabari was able to suit up and played well on defense, racking up several steals and forcing turnovers. Senior Yvonne Dean-Bailey performed well in the scoring category, hitting multiple pull up jumpers. Henrich pitched in some scores from beyond the arc. Heavirland was able to shut down Choate’s point guard, forcing some poor passes to be made. Senior Susannah Gray was able to demonstrate her defensive capabilities again this week by playing lockdown defense on Choate’s post game and also made some great passes on the offensive end that led to baskets for Big Red.The team headed into the game missing a few players with upper Mel Allen out with a torn ACL and lower Michaela Streep unable to make the trip due to an illness. Despite the shortened bench, Coach Johnny Griffith was able to use his reserves wisely. According to Bosche, “Everyone got in and played a lot of minutes.” After Kabari and Henrich got into foul trouble in the second half, senior Maddie Firkey and prep Maya Blake were able to help maintain Exeter’s lead. Firkey was especially prepared to display her passing prowess. “She kept finding people in unbelievable places,” Bosche said on Firkey’s performance.With a nearly unblemished record, the girls are set up for a strong chance at a title this season. “I think we have a good chance of winning it,” Heavirland said. “If it happens, it would be an amazing year. If it doesn’t, then it would still be an amazing year. I’m already having so much fun with the team. A championship would be the cherry on top. I don’t see much stopping us.”“Each game is a new challenge, and we want to win every one because our team has the potential to,” Bosche said. “There is motivation because of our record, but also because we know we have the ability to win pretty much every game—we just know we have to play our game and not let it fall apart.”Exeter will have the advantage of being home this Saturday against a hot Thayer team that is riding a three game winning streak. After spending their last three games on the road, it comes as a relief to the team to be playing on their own court. “It’s nice not to spend another Saturday on the bus and we are excited to have fans behind us again. The support we’ve had this season is awesome and we really appreciate it,” Henrich said.