Before the start of the regular season on Friday, Dec. 8 when Windham will travel to face Lewiston, the WHS varsity girls’ basketball team played their first preseason game at home in the Sebago Lake Showdown Tournament against South Portland on Tuesday, Dec. 5.
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| Windham sophomore Marley Jarvais attempts a layup during a preseason girls' basketball game against South Portland as part of the Sebago Lake Showdown Tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 5. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA |
“Three of our starting varsity players are out; I think we need the extra games as much as we can,” said Windham sophomore Marley Jarvais. “I think having three varsity players out, all of us being more supportive of each other is just going to help us way more as the season goes on especially in our game against Lewiston coming up. Our shooting 100 percent outside went well; we did a lot better in the second half with our passing and not trying to rush things as much. We’ve worked on zone ... I think we did a really good job, but it might need a little improvement with covering the middle. We did pretty good for [the team] being mostly non-varsity starters and no upper classmen.”
Windham began the game moving the ball well and communicated on the floor. Windham sophomore Kendra Eubanks put Windham on the scoreboard with a three-pointer.
Windham grabbed rebounds early, but many shots weren’t falling. South Portland was able to maintain a small lead in the first half. Eubanks sunk another three-pointer that was nothing but net.
Windham was slowly gaining on the Red Riots. Windham sophomore Addison Caiazzo sunk a three-pointer as Windham worked to close the gap before the first buzzer.
“We have to learn to just go at our own pace instead of speeding things up or seeing what the other team is trying to make us do,” said Caiazzo. “Our shooting was pretty good; we were able to hit shots when we needed to; our passes were pretty good and we’re really good at going to the basket. Confidence needs improvement; being able to play at that next level.”
Halfway through the game, South Portland led, 19-12.
Windham’s intensity remained strong in the second half; they were not going down without a fight. The Lady Eagles were not far off the lead and Windham’s effort never dwindled. They took several shots at the basket, but not every shot fell. Windham freshman Denali Momot hit a three-pointer early in the second half.
“I found it helpful [to have this extra time to play] because we’re missing a couple of our starters, so it’s definitely getting our bench some education ... more playing time on varsity and experience,” said Eubanks. “It helps build our stamina. We need to be confident and aggressive and use the ball well. We shot very well, passed the ball very well, looked ... everywhere before we passed the ball.”
According to Eubanks rebounding and pushing the ball and being smarter with the ball could use some work.
“We did some good things as a team,” said Windham varsity girls basketball coach Brody Artes. “We don’t want to be playing our best basketball right now. We want to kind of continue to grow and progress over the course of the season. I thought our second half ball movement and offense was much, much better. A couple kids hit some shots and really started to step up and do some good things for us overall. We got to take care of the ball a little bit better and value the ball a little bit more. We had some turnovers in the first half, we’ve got to limit those ... for sure. Defensively, we have just got to get after it and continue to work hard ... we got to make sure we contest all the shots, but then rebound when there are a lot of rebounds.”
Windham will meet Gorham in a home game on Dec. 19. <
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