As winter sports have come to an end, we were given the opportunity to interview three of this year’s Palisade Girls Basketball seniors: Esmeralda Baca, Laurna Lancaster and Chloe Simons. Esme started off by explaining how she is a team captain, as well as a manager for the team, saying, “I’ve really enjoyed having that title, especially as a manager… I felt really involved with the program.” As a team manager, Esme has played a big role for the girls basketball team, and we are proud to have such a talented person on the team. Laurna, who is also a captain, says “I think the biggest thing for leadership was teaching the girls that yeah, we are the basketball crew/program, but we are also sisters, and to have eachothers backs no matter what the situation is. Our third senior, Chloe, states that “It was just fun to be able to help lead in a program that we had this year. Being able to win some games; enjoy the wins and enjoy the losses as we went, we just enjoyed each other.
Laurna then goes on to talk about how important the leaders’ roles are in keeping the team’s spirits up, saying, “ As l leader, just being able to help the younger girls be able to have that positive self talk and pick themselves up after a mistake.” When asked what her highlight of the season was, Chloe said, “ I would say all of the bonding. The team dinners… the bus rides were really fun, just playing music and enjoying each other.” When asked the same question, Laurna stated that “ another highlight was taking the pieces from last year, and learning what we had and finally being able to put them together this year… to be able to work well together and to know who needs what.”. Laurna also said very proudly “ Oh girl, we won league… we won league 6-0 and finished the season 17-6”. Sadly, Chloe stated that “ I don’t want to go. Just competing and being able to play. I love the sport, I love to compete, and I love to have a team to back you up when you’re playing.” All three seniors agreed that they are going to miss the friendships they had built up over their high school basketball career, and all the side conversations and jokes that were told during their everyday warm-ups.
The seniors also offered very useful advice to any incoming players. Chloe says “Just try to take every game as an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to just enjoy it.” Esme adds “Just keeping an open mind, and being able to take in constructive criticism and taking that to your advantage.” Laurna and Chloe want to be basketball coaches in the future, and all three seniors are going to pursue a college education. We really appreciate our seniors, and how they have inspired the younger players to be the best that they can in the sport of basketball, and wish them the best of luck for their future.