American Journalist, B.C Forbes said, “History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.”

This was true for junior point guard, Grace Oken who suffered a severe ankle injury that kept her out of playing for six and a half months towards the end of last season. As she was going for a fast break lay up, another player ran under her and accidentally tripped her. Her ankle rolled and she tore several ligaments and a muscle. 

For Oken, it felt horrible to be out so long, especially since she is so skilled and valued by her team. “Grace has a great mind on the court. She always knows what’s going on and what to do in every situation.” Sophomore Guard, Leah Davis said. The way Oken has handled the recovery process has been inspiring for her teammates. She has been in and out of the court and in the weight room, working diligently to get stronger and get the muscles back. “I’ve been trying to get my speed back up and my defense back up.” She also had a great support system rooting her on when she felt she was pushed to the limit. Her teammates helped her to have more confidence on the court. “If they would see me getting frustrated, they would just pick me up and hold me accountable,” she said. Her coaches have a lot of experiences with setbacks and have taught and mentored the girls. Oken’s basketball coaches also helped to lead her through this process of recovery and improvement because they are “preparing each and every day for game day… He is always supportive and by my side.” 

With players like Oken, who work diligently despite setbacks the team has lots of strength to keep focus with the leadership of their coaches and team captains and the goal to get really far this year. “We feel our strength is our depth and our ability to do a lot of things.” Said Coach Andrew Curtis. “We want to get as far as possible and hopefully that means to state championship, but just working to get better every single day.” 

“We do our best daily to do our part individually so we can succeed as a team.” Davis said. The team has been working on improving in all aspects of basketball and character. The team recently dominated their game against Westview , with a final score of 84-36. They are preparing to play many different opponents and style of play this season. The next game is Dec.13 against Desert Ridge at 7 pm.