Girls’ basketball crushed by Chaska
Team struggles defensively
February 12, 2023
On Feb. 10, Park’s girls’ basketball team lost to Chaska 82-41. Head coach Arsenio Richardson said the loss was understandable.
“We didn’t perform to our best,” Richardson said. “We had a lack of effort defensively, and (Chaska) is a really good team – they’ll be conference champs. We just didn’t control the stuff we could control, like our defense intensity.”
According to Richardson, the game was on trend with the team’s performance throughout the season.
“Watching a lot of our deficiencies, this was definitely a reflection of how the season has been going,” Richardson said.
Sophomore Faye Miller said that the team lacked effort, which she attributed partially to the absence of senior teammate Shantell Harden, who was injured during the game.
“We struggled with our effort. Once we started losing by a lot, we stopped trying as hard,” Miller said. “We also don’t have very many people because of injuries… Shantell is a really good player, so it’s hard when she’s not playing out on the court, even though she’s still there and really supportive on the side.”
Sophomore Josie Hechtman said Harden’s injury was a challenge for the team, but they had good moments as well.
“(Harden) is a really good captain and leader, so not having that on the court is very hard. We still have it off the court, but it’s different without her there,” Hechtman said. “We had some good offensive possessions though, and some good defensive positions in the beginning of the game. We just have to learn to keep that throughout and not let the score affect that.”
Miller said that despite the lack of effort on the court, the team succeeded in lifting each other up on the sidelines.
“We were more supportive teammates on the bench today, and that was one of our struggles with the last couple games,” Miller said. “I feel like we did better today with that.”
Parks girls basketball’s next game is against Benilde-St. Margarets at 7 p.m Feb. 14 at St. Louis Park High School.
