The new season for basketball started out strong for the JV girls. They have beat Chancellor twice and Massaponax once. JV’s captains are Kendra Boone, Olivia Hupp, and Nicole Tuck. This is their second year playing on Riverbend’s JV basketball team. JV has five freshmen and seven sophomores. The JV coach, Coach Via, said, “They play well as a team. They are growing. They’re young, but the team is grabbing things quickly. I am excited for the potential I see on the team.” Comparing last season to this season, Coach Via said, “They are very similar. Both lost a hard road game, but came back with big wins against Massaponax which is a strong team in the area. It is up in the air what is next because we haven’t seen how strong the conference is, but I feel we can take care of business.”

On the varsity side, things have started out a little slower. Although varsity has struggled for a win, they are looking to overcome their rough start. Coach Miller said, “They are a young, talented group of girls. They are putting in the work, so they will be where they need to be come crunch time. They don’t have a lot of returners, so they are working on team chemistry and camaraderie.” The team has many underclassmen; including four freshmen and four sophomores. They only have four juniors and two seniors. Makayla Little, Seone Goode, and Caroline Loving are varsity’s captains. Compared to last year, Coach Miller said, “At the end of the season, we had seven [girls on the team] last year. Having 15 girls is showing that people are getting excited about basketball again.”

It is just the beginning of the basketball season. Go out and support the Lady Bears!