Winslow Township Middle School girl’s basketball team went undefeated and are taking home the championship there hard work and working together helped them succeed. 

“Our key to success was teamwork, and working together and motivating each other, ” said seventh grader Laila Robinson.

They started the season with a scrimmage against Hammonton Middle School. The team lost the scrimmage, mainly due to the fact that they had a lack of experience with each other; the team roster had only been decided the week prior. Because of that, team only had one practice together before  playing against Hammonton. Their first real game was against Pleasantville, and the girls won the game with a tremendous score. After awhile they began to have more practices and developed more chemistry with one another. 

“We need to work together and not just [have] one person trying to hold the team together,” explained eighth grader Kamore Boone.

During the mid-season mark Ayonna Alexander was the high scorer, and Charity Drummond was consistently the next high scorer. By the end of the season, the team had managed to collect 16 wins despite entering a new league this year that they had no information about. Eventually the team began to blow-out other teams with scores of 54-4 and more. Coach Conn would push plays to confuse the opposing teams. 

“Once we realized that we started beating teams that are more challenging for us, we realized that if we can win against them, we can do more and win against other teams, ” said Boone. 

Despite their success, the season was not without obstacles. Drummond injured her ankle, but the team adjusted. After that eighth grader Ryann O’Neal got a concussion toward the end of the season. In addition, the flu took out some players and Coach Conn.

Encouraging wins and overcoming adversity excited the team, but they didn’t celebrate too much. They did not want to portray themselves in a way that seemed cocky. So they would celebrate a little  on the bus ride home or in the locker room. The girls never went places together as a team other their games but their bond is strong. When winning the first game the players were not surprised. They all hope to do as well as they did this year next year. 

“I hope that we can also go undefeated and go to the championship,” Robinson said.