The Orono girls basketball team won against Winona 65-47 Saturday the eighteenth at Williams Arena and they are now the Class AAA State Champs. With a new coach and one returning starter everyone was skeptical about this season for the girls, except for them.
“The whole time our coach has been saying we don’t have anything to prove, people have pretty low expectations for us, like we always knew we could do it so we just have this mindset that we can do it despite not everyone having full confidence in us,” Junior Anna Hughes said after their win against Alexandria to go to the championship.
Orono’s fans went crazy when they realized their team was going to the final round after Orono won against Alexandria 50-34. The team freaked out too. Starting off the season as the classic underdog they fought their way to the top.
This is the first time OGB has gone to state since 2015 and they were ready for their turn. After the win against Willmar Lavesa Glover-Verhagen, OGB’s new coach, said she felt very confident about her team in the tournament, but mentioned she was excited for the good and difficult games ahead.
“We’re just gonna go out there and play orono basketball,” Coach Lavesa Glover-Verhagen said.
That they did. They surprised the doubters, yet again, and won. The girls were headed to the Championship game filled with nerves accompanied by confidence.
“I think it’s normal to be kind of anxious and nervous so you just gotta push that aside. It’s just a game and although it means a lot more than most games you just gotta calm your nerves by telling yourself that. We came in confident, we came out and we played good defence and I think that’s what won us this game,” senior Mattea Rice said.
They headed home and they were able to get some sleep before the big game awaiting them on Saturday.
They went into the game accompanied by their fans dressed in USA gear and a packed arena. The girls said they knew this would be a difficult game but they tried to remain calm and went into the game with the same smiles they always had.
“We really worked on working as a team because we have a couple great players and someone like Tori can just take it and run with it, but for us to actually win we have to work as a team. So we worked a lot on passing it around and getting it in everyone’s hands,” senior Mattie Rice said.
It was a tough game accompanied by harsh defense and some close calls, but Orono was always in the lead. Seniors Mattea Rice got 19 points and eight rebounds, Tori Andrews got 22 points, and Natalie Smaron got 8 points and 12 rebounds.
The girls were delivering and would not back down. Working their butts off resulted in a win over Winona 65-47 for the Class AAA champion title.
“During the game it was very exciting. We were just having fun, staying calm, and doing our thing. After it all it payed off and we got the W,” senior Tori Andrews said.
