UC High’s Girls Basketball Team shot for success this winter. The team achieved an overall record of 14-13 (maxpreps.com).

   Head Coach Mary Ann McLaughlin  said, “This [year’s] team did a lot better than last year’s team. The players that have returned are smarter and playing better, and we were playing better as a team. The new players we have added made it a much more stronger, cohesive team,” said McLaughlin. “We had much more depth on our team this season,” she said.

   The team had only two seniors and was young, with three brand new players. “All three of them did fantastically,” said McLaughlin. According to the team roster, there were four players each from eleventh and tenth grades, as well as two each from ninth and twelfth grades.

   “The season went surprisingly well, considering we’re a young team,” said Guard Milani Laborete.

   “Our key players have definitely been [Center] Fayth Fowler and [Guard] Madison Wills. They were both our captains,” said McLaughlin. Madison starts in off-guard shooting position, and she also plays backup point,” said McLaughlin. “Milani Laborete has also been a big key. She is a very big asset for us defensively,” added McLaughlin.

   The players practiced Monday through Friday, except for game days, and sometimes Saturdays as well, according to McLaughlin. “We’ve put in two hours of hard, intense practice every day, “ said McLaughlin. “Every day, we had a focus for our team. It’s always a focus to learn to play together and to compete as a team both defensively and offensively. So, our big focus was to work on skill development, ball handling, shooting, free throws and good defense.”

   The practice paid off, as the team achieved many successes. “I would say it was really awesome to beat Cathedral Catholic [High] on our home court. It was a good win for us,” said McLaughlin. Wills said that her most memorable game was against Academy of Our Lady of Peace [OLP]: “We beat OLP. We were losing like the whole game, but in the fourth quarter, we beat them,” she said. “So, that was really fun,” added Wills. The OLP game was also memorable to Laborete. “…we beat OLP for the first time in a long time,” said Laborete.

   The team’s achievements are even more impressive considering the many  obstacles it overcame. “We’ve had quite a few challenges,” said McLaughlin. “Every team goes through challenges just trying to keep everyone healthy and injury-free. We had a stretch there in December that was really rough, where two of our starters were out injured, and we lost some games we shouldn’t have lost: had we had everyone healthy and strong, we probably would have won those.” These injuries have only strengthened the mental toughness of the team, however. “We’ve overcome challenges, and we’re learning to persevere, learn from our mistakes, understand our strengths and capitalize on our strengths,” said McLaughlin. She added, “…the team is getting better and smarter each game.”

   Indeed, the team rebounded from its hardships as it performed well in league with a record of 7-5 (maxpreps.com). “We had high goals and high expectations and big mountains to climb,” said McLaughlin. “Our goal was to place as high as we can in league, behind Scripps Ranch [High]. I didn’t think we could overtake them; we didn’t play enough games, so Scripps Ranch [High] finished first,” she said.

   The team made it to playoffs as hoped. “This year, we tried to make it to playoffs, because last year we didn’t,” said Wills. UC High played its first playoff game against Vista High on February 23.  Although Vista High won 53-42, making it to playoffs is nonetheless an accomplishment and improvement for the Centurions (maxpreps.com).

   While working hard, the players seemed to be have had fun as well. “This team has been a lot of fun to coach for,” said McLaughlin. “There’s lots of good personalities…. We enjoyed the season.”