The Girls Varsity Basketball team is enjoying a well-played season thus far.  Their overall record is 9-8, and the girls are hoping to finish strong in their last two games of the season against Hicksville and Plainview John F. Kennedy High (the latter being one of their biggest rivals).  

In their conference, their record is 3-5, but the girls are not letting that discourage them.  A reason for their record is the fact that this season is serving as a transition period, as the girls are dealing with the loss of almost half their players from last season, who graduated.  

Additionally, almost half of their team this year is made up of freshmen, which offers both a challenge for the team this season but promises success for later seasons as the experience of the team can only grow.  Two freshmen are in the team’s starting lineup, Kate Schmitz and Natalie Demeo, the latter of whom is a returning player.  

All in all, the girls are happy with their success this season and are already looking towards what they will have to offer later on.

Five of the team’s players graduated in 2019, this loss meaning the team’s dynamic had to be reworked and the girls had to get used to playing with five new teammates, almost half of their eleven-player team.  The adjustment, however, gives way to improvement as the girls become accustomed with each other and form closer bonds than they had before.  

“At this point it is hard to believe that any of the girls are freshmen with how much they’ve grown,” said senior Lilly Conway.  As a graduating senior, she is able to trust her team to continue strong.

For example, freshman Natalie Demeo stands out in almost every game.  Demeo was pulled up to play with the varsity team as an eighth grader last year, and has continued to prove herself on the court time and time again.  

During Port’s game against Westbury, Demeo hit six three-pointers which helped lead the team to a 59-37 victory.  This win became a big morale booster as the girls had lost their previous game to East Meadow, 33-45.  

Demeo also helped lead the team to victory during their close game against Roslyn in December with 16 points and 4 steals.  Demeo’s hard work has been noticed by her teammates as well.  

“Natalie really is a leading player as well as a dominant scorer,” said junior Remi Haas.  

Senior Kate Shanahan has also put up a remarkable amount of points throughout the season.  Since being pulled up to varsity her sophomore year, Shanahan has played an important role to the team and an exciting player to watch.  

During her game against Roslyn, Shanahan put up 15 points and had 10 rebounds.  She continued this kind of positive energy on the court as the season went on by helping lead the team to victory in their game against Great Neck North with 14 points and another 10 rebounds.  Shanahan is not the only senior to look out for on the court, as Lilly Conway dominates with her own tenacious moves.  Conway has helped keep the girls going strong throughout the season.

“Conway has been very consistent this whole season keeping us together and acted to lead the new players and help in their adjustment to the team,” said Haas.

Despite the fact that the girls had to learn how to play with a new team, they were able to have a decently successful season.  The group of girls gained a strong set of shooters from the new freshmen, and the ability to persevere through their struggles as a team leads them with high hopes into next season.