Girls Basketball Season Recap

winter sports are over and one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises and ongoing stories of the season was the girls basketball team.

LRSC Patch Editor Kevin Haslam spoke with head coach Jeff Rinehimer to talk about some highs and lows of the season. Here’s how it went:

LRSC Patch: What did it mean for the team to make it all the way to and how did you guys feel after all the dust cleared and you guys had some time to think about the loss?

Jeff Rinehimer: It was really special. I'm glad they did it. The community support was great. I think the kids kind of fed off that. They saw how many people were coming to the gym every night to see them play. It was a great experience. I'm really proud of them and I hope they're proud of themselves with what they did.

Patch: Just for fun… Let’s say you beat Carroll and you move on to play Oakland Catholic… What are your thoughts?

Rinehimer: I think they would have been excited and would have been ready for anything if they had gotten by Carroll. We would've liked the matchup. At that time, they knew they could beat anybody. It would've been neat to see and they would've liked their chances against anybody at that time.

Patch: Take us through, personally, your favorite victory of this year, and it doesn’t have to be a win. It could be a certain point in the season or whatever.

Rinehimer: I don't think there's any favorite. You always do your league first. I think it was special . That's always the first thing and it kind of builds from there. It was a special one to get the league title.

Patch: Can’t say enough about and . Great leaders and great presences on the court. Tell me about their progress throughout their careers.

Rinehimer: We had some good people in front of them to learn from. I think they kept the tradition going. They were able to take things further. They understood wanting to do better than the class before you. They had everything organized and took care of anything that had to be done.

With their play on the court - to be a leader on the court, you have to come hard every day at practice too. That's what they did. They did it on the court and off.

Patch: You guys added another key senior to the team this year in , and she was just a spark, man. She really went out there and poured her heart and soul into this team. Can you pay homage to her and her progress throughout the year?

Rinehimer: She really helped put us over the top as far as giving you that extra off the bench. She loves the game and plays that way. She was always ready to play. She always played hard defense. On offense she was a plus. She was just tremendous. It really helped give the team another dimension that without her we maybe didn't have.

Patch: Now, you've got a great group of juniors on this team, from Brittany [Moore], Courtney [Hinnant] and Sarah [Payonk], who were all starters, to Sammi Haas off the bench, who was coming in and providing some extra leadership there. And then there's and - both unsung hero nominees this year. Can you talk about the junior class and their abilities, as well as the future?

Rinehimer: They worked hard. The bulk of our team were juniors. They know they can't stay still. It's tough when you get older. Some kids lose interest and to be a team that goes forward, you have to do more than you did before. It's tough your senior year, because you maybe want to coast. But if you want to get back to where you were or get close to that, you have to take it up a level.

Patch: Another core group here: Shelby [Mueller] coming off the bench, and Sammy [Stipa] leading the way at guard - they're only sophomores. Even Maggie Locke - that game at , she laid down a mean block on one of the girls toward the end of the game. That was just inspiring to see that this team could very well be good for years to come. Can you talk about those three and how important they are to this young nucleas?

Rinehimer: Sometimes you forget that Stipa and Shelby are just sophomores, because they played a lot last year. They understand they have a lot more room to grow. I would get caught in forgetting how young they were. Maggie Locke, it took a while, but as soon as she got her confidence and how to play with the older guys, she started to come on. It was a matter of getting confidence so they grow a little bit.

Patch: Enough about the players, now. Take some time to reflect. Would you consider this season a success for this team? A lot of people, including myself, are saying this is the best Spring-Ford girls basketball team in school history. Not coming away with a state championship is sad, but you've got to consider this a successful season, right?

Rinehimer: Oh yeah. The wins they had in a row and we would go out and pick up the toughest schedule we can, that's really how proud of what they do. We go game by game and it's just amazing how they kept it going.

Patch: You guys got a whole heck of a lot of support by not just the parents of the kids who were playing, but the students in the school and members of the community. I mean, the stands were full for a lot of games, especially down the stretch. Would you like to say anything to the readers that were most likely in attendance at those games and supported you guys throughout the season?

Rinehimer: I would like to thank them. You don't really get a chance to do it. I'd like to thank everybody in the community that came out. It was great. It was awesome. I think the first state game, because it was closer and a little bit tighter of a gym, they really heard the gym heavy in their favor. I saw then, how their eyes lit up and how they really enjoyed that. I'd like to thank the fans for that and they gave the kids a great experience.