Starting with twenty-four girls at tryouts in mid-December, only thirteen made the cut to be on the basketball team. The eighth-grade girls’ basketball coach, Mr. Paglio, had certain qualities in mind when narrowing down the team. He said the ideal athlete was someone with experience in the sport of basketball, someone with great work ethic, and someone who can take pointers and  utilize coaching feedback in order to improve. 

Once the team was selected and the games began in January, the season started off challenging with losses in their first four games–falling to Memorial, Chardon, Madison, and Willowick. MMS players cited that the other teams offer intense competition–many players from the others teams competing on year-round travel teams as well as having speed and height. However, January 23, the girls won their first game, defeating Eastlake at home. Coach Paglio said that in that game, the players showed focus and determination. Another win against Riverside on January 31 brings their current record to 2 and 6.

There are five games remaining in the season, several of which will provide rematches against teams to which MMS previously lost.  The players are ready to fight back. The season will wrap up the last week in February with the conference tournaments.

The eighth-grade team has no consistent starters, said Coach Paglio, but will have a constant change in the lineup throughout the season to give every girl a shot. “I think our greatest strengths are our work ethic and commitment to getting better…My primary focus for the girls is that they improve over the course of the season and are prepared for the high school program.”