On February 21, the varsity girls basketball team made history by being the first RMA basketball team ever to compete in the state championship–and we won! As one of the starting five, I want to share with you how special this experience was for all sixteen players.
With snow still on the ground, the Lady Eagles traveled to Charlotte to play against Greensboro’s Caldwell Academy. The snow added a challenge in the days leading up to the big game because we were unable to meet at school and practice. Luckily, though, the roads were safe enough for us to load onto a charter bus Friday morning–it was important to our team that we rode together—and travel to Providence Day School for the game. We arrived in Charlotte around 2:00 and got lunch together at McAlister’s Deli, then did a little shopping at Southpark Mall to de-stress before heading over to the gym.
With such a large campus (Providence Day has about 1,800 students), the facilities were amazing. The gym had bleachers on both sides and a balcony that wrapped around the whole court. Not only was the gym itself big, but the court–which was college-length–was bigger than what we were used to. Those several extra feet made it more tiring to run up and down the court, especially since the starters played almost the entire game.
The lack of practice time and college-style court were challenging enough, but it turns out that the other team was our biggest challenge. We had a record of 21-0 going into the game and were the first seed. Caldwell Academy was seeded right behind us at second and had a record of just 12-5 going into the game. But even though our record was better than theirs, they had faced some harder competition than what we had seen this season, and everyone knows that tough opponents create tough opponents.
It was a back-and-forth game pretty much from tip-off to the final whistle. When halftime rolled around, we were down by just one point at 21-20. After halftime, we came back out onto the court and scored 10 points, putting us up 30-21 since we didn’t let Caldwell score at all in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, though, Caldwell did manage to put up 16 points, but we added 13 to pull off the win with a final score of 43-37.
Isabella Daza (Sr.), Taylor Carmichael (Jr.), McKenna Rogers (Jr.), Berkeley Miller (So.), and I started for the Lady Eagles, and Abbie Hooks (Sr.) was subbed in throughout the game. McKenna Rogers contributed to the team’s victory with an impressive 14 rebounds, and with 15 points, Carmichael led in points for the game, followed closely by Berkeley Miller with 14 points. Both ladies–as well as Isabella Daza–received All-State Honors for their performance, and Taylor Carmichael was named Farm Bureau Player of the Game.
The RMA girls basketball team wants to thank our two coaches–Head Coach Katherine Johnston and Assistant Coach Jay Hooks–and our team manager, Exceptional Eagle Grace Berry, who made this such an amazing season. Not only was this a special experience for the team but also for all the parents and friends who traveled to Charlotte to support us or watched online. We have an amazing community surrounding RMA sports!
