Valley Junior High girls basketball outclassing competition
The Valley Junior High girls basketball team has defeated every opponent this season, and none of the games have been close. In fact, the team’s wins have been by an average of more than 50 points.
The key to the access in points has been the team’s unselfish desire to put points on the board.
“Teamwork is one of the best things in this year’s team,” Valley Junior High girls basketball coach Laura Pace said. “There are two girls who see the court really well, but the best part is they are all unselfish. We will have 29 points made with 15 assists. No one is better than anyone else. They don’t care about the one, they care about the points.”
The two players that show the most court sense and leadership are ninth-graders Jessica Matheson, the team’s point guard, and Lose Fonua, the team’s power forward.
“These girls have a great court sense and a great ability to set up plays,” Pace said. “They help the other kids see things, too. They are outstanding ball players and really understand the game of basketball at a young age. They know what needs to be done, and they don’t care who makes the points. If they see the opportunity to score they go for it.”
Pace has been coaching the junior high team for 34 years. The girls respect her coaching abilities and they look forward to playing with her. Even though most of the team are freshman and could be playing high school ball, they chose to stay and play ball with her for one more year.
There are 20 girls on the team this year; nine of them are playing their third year of basketball--five played for the first time last year, and six girls are playing for the first time this year.
Along with Matheson and Fonua six other girls will be moving on to high school ball next year: Fanita Tunuufi, Veiongo Fonua, Ana Wolfgramm, Ashley Olsen, Caitlin Cook, Jaycie LeBaron and Mary Ma’afu. These girls will attend Granger High.
The team has played a total of eight games for the junior high season. The championship game is scheduled to be at Olympus High School on Dec. 20.
