As the Rowland Hall girls’ basketball team built a 17-point lead over Waterford on Jan. 31 en route to a dominant 36-24 win, coach Bill Tatomer couldn’t help but having bittersweet feelings.
While he enjoyed seeing his team playing at its best against an eventual playoff team, he was distracted by the thought of what the season could have been like.
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Big player » Devin Price, West basketball. A once-beleaguered Panther team has battled its way to .500 in Region 2 with a playoff berth more than likely. Price helped get them there with a monster effort against Granger on Feb. 10. He scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for a double-double in the 39-27 win.
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The Winged Lions were hampered by injuries to key players this season, causing a less than stellar run through region play. Rowland Hall lost 13 of its final 15 games—including an 11-game losing streak — but that doesn’t have Rowland Hall too down. Instead, the team is proud of what it accomplished 2011-12, the successes that it believes will trigger a bright future.
"This year was definitely a huge building piece for our team in making it into a program," junior Cari Sanyer said.
Senior Anna Smith missed nine games with a concussion after averaging 9.1 points in the team’s first six games, a 6-1 stretch that included a season-opening five-game winning streak. Junior Marisa Eng missed seven games with a concussion of her own. Sophomore Sarah Birkett had to leave the team after being diagnosed with sarcoma cancer in her finger. Treatment was successful and Birkett is expected back next season. Abeni Czajkowski missed a month and a half with a leg injury while Grace Veghte was slowed with a knee injury.
The injuries forced the spotlight onto other players, including Sanyer, freshman point guard Candice Nkoy and junior Shelby Matsumura. While the new nucleus certainly struggled, it also grew into a team that will be ready for next season. The Winged Lions won seven games, the highest total in the five-year tenure of Tatomer.
"These kids stayed with it, and, God bless ’em, we’ve gotten better and better every year," Tatomer said.
Tatomer can’t help but already look ahead to 2012-13. He’ll have what he believes is a four-year starter at point guard in Nkoy. Eng, Matsumura and Sanyer all return. And Meagan Hall, maybe the team’s best surprise, will round out the starting lineup. The roster and experiences from this season have the Winged Lions ready to challenge for a playoff spot next season.
"Girls basketball at Rowland Hall has never really been a big deal," Tatomer said. "It’s those things that we did that season that really just move the program forward."
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