The Battle Ground High School girls basketball team realizes the win/loss column may not sit in its favor after a 2-4 start to the season, but the Tigers know they can continue to grow as a program.
Head coach Martha Bellcoff said the program had a great offseason, but the team is very young this season. The Tigers varsity roster packs just three seniors, four juniors and five sophomores.
“We were trying to develop camaraderie this offseason, and we were doing that,” Bellcoff said after the Tigers’ 43-38 loss to the Washougal Panthers on Dec. 9. “And so, I think, because of the work, we’ve come out strong. I mean, we’ve been in all four of the games that we’ve had.”
The Tigers picked up their first win, a 42-37 victory, over Hockinson High School on Saturday, Dec. 7, but followed with two losses in the same number of days, first to Washougal High School and then to Mountain View High School, 62-21, on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The Tigers battled against Heritage High School on Friday, Dec. 13, resulting in an 41-25 win.
The Tigers have been playing three games a week to start the season.
“I guess that’s kind of the downfall of having an independent schedule. Everything gets pretty much crammed into December, and so we’re trying to just work through that and have some fun while we’re at it,” Bellcoff said.
The number of games has helped the Tigers grow, however, both as teammates and as students of the game.
“We’re just looking for progress every day, and we’re getting better every day,” Bellcoff said. “We’re learning from our mistakes, and so I’m excited for the rest of the season as we bond and get more experience under our belt.”
Bellcoff said the Tigers have experienced great moments of basketball this season despite their record. From battling La Center into overtime early in the season followed by a close win over Hockinson, Bellcoff continues to coach the Tigers to look for the open person, make one more pass, battle for every possession and work together.
“We’ve been getting some really good looks and some good plays with that and selfless basketball,” she added.
The three seniors, Ava Robertson, Lola Cooper and Ella Horst, have been key into establishing a culture, camaraderie and team unity, Bellcoff said. She added that they put in 100% effort on the court and are actively trying to help turn the program around to leave a legacy of improvement.
“They’ve improved every single year that they’ve been in the program,” Bellcoff said. “So we’re just trying to continue that. They’ve been good leaders. … They’ve continued to look out for each other and support each other and [are] just trying to lift up our young players because we have a lot of sophomores that don’t have a lot of experience. We’re trying to do team dinners and just activities out of the basketball court, but those are going to happen later because right now we’re playing three games each week.”
The Tigers started this week with a matchup against Evergreen High School, but results weren’t available as of press time. They next host Kelso High School in The Cage at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19.
