The atmosphere was exciting at Concord High School as the town congregated for a moment to recognize the seniors: Cieara Barrett and Gabby Herzberg. As the girls prepared to take down Union City, they also decided to have a little fun and let Manager Julia Stevens play for senior night.
The girls are currently undefeated and have won the Big 8 Champs. Cece Barrett has had a very successful season so far. Barrett has broken the records for most career assists, most steals in a game and career, most career field goals, Most games played, and tied for most three-pointers in a game. As well as being a part of the 1,000-point club, along with junior Bradie Lehman.
Gabby Herzberg has been playing basketball throughout high school. Gabby has had a rocky relationship with basketball, as she didn’t want to continue to play for her senior year. She was asked to play for JV and varsity. When asked to be put in a situation, she wasn’t completely happy, but she decided to step up and be there for her team: she is extremely glad that she did. “My favorite memory was junior year, playing with Reagan, Delaney, Jess, and Rachel. We all had so much fun and laughed all the time. I believe that is one of the reasons I continued basketball and why it was fun for me.” Besides the memories that she will take away from her experience of participating in high school basketball, she explained that it was a good thing to do as it has helped her think about the future. “I have learned that you never take anything for granted while playing because you never know when it’s going to end and when everything changes.”
Another senior, Cieara Barrett, has been playing basketball for as long as she can remember. She added that she feels she played well, but there is always something she can improve on. “I think our team has built a lot of chemistry and that’s definitely helping us succeed on the court.” Barrett believes they have so much more to prove before their season ends, and as they will keep advancing in districts, regional,s etc. “I think I have changed so much as a player from the beginning of the season because I know this is my last season playing for this team, and I want to do as much as I can to help my team before I’m done.” Barrett continues on that she will continue to work on her skills: “I will continue to work on everything to use during games and focus on one game at a time. I think we are a good team, but we can’t overlook some of the other teams that we will play.”
The girls are a very competitive team, and they’re looking forward to advancing to make it as far as they can and show all the time, skill, effort, and determination on the court. However, the game of basketball doesn’t always have to be so serious. During both the third and fourth quarters of the varsity game, manager Julia Stevens took the court. Stevens has been helping with basketball for a while now. Last year, she did this as well for fun, but for senior night, it was important to carry that on and add a twist to the game. Stevens explains, “It was a lot of fun. I was really scared at first because even though I had gone to a couple of practices, I honestly had no idea what to do. When I went into the game, I realized that it was actually a lot of fun, and I just started shooting, even if I was missing. That was my favorite part: I really wanted to make a point, and I ended up doing that.” Stevens has been around the sports environment for a while; she has learned many things and has been very grateful to do so. “One thing I took from this experience is that not everything is that serious. There are things in life that have a sole purpose, which is for fun, and it really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about you at the moment. You should just enjoy it.”
The Lady Jackets have had an incredible season so far, and we are so proud of how hard they are working to get further than they ever have and make history. The next time they play is Saturday afternoon, February 28th, at Concord, 1 pm against Hanover Horton. Be there and be loud!
