After holding the state record for the most consecutive winning seasons, last year the girls broke their streak with a winning percentage of 28.0 and a record of 7-18. The Parkway North girl’s basketball team started the 2022-23 season on Nov. 22 and currently hold a 41.7 winning percentage after just 7 games.
“We plan on working hard during practice and really making our time in the gym count. We’re each working individually as well to become an asset to the team with our certain skills, whether it be dribbling, shooting,” senior Jennifer Melamed said.
Starting their season off with a home game at North, the girls lost to Parkway South 26-61, but the team bounced back, winning their next two games against Parkway Central and Ritenour.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start,” coach Jamesell Kee said. “The girls are getting better every game, and I have no doubt that we will have a successful season.”
More recently, Parkway North won against STEAM Academy and lost to McCluer North and Kirkwood in their last three games.
“The STEAM Academy win was good,” head coach Adam Ketcherside said. “I was happy with how we battled back in that game after being down 36 points [against Parkway West].”
With the team and student body hoping for a win coming back from winter break, the girls are reflecting on their inconsistent play.
“I’ve been really frustrated with how the season has been going so far, and it gets really annoying to take hard losses almost every night,” junior London McWilliams said. “I look forward to seeing our team improve throughout the season. We definitely have the drive.”
The girls will take on McCluer and Marquette in their next games. McCluer currently holds a 3-2 winning record. Their winning games average 41 points higher than the opposing team, while their losing games are on average only 9 points lower than the opposing team.
Marquette on the other hand currently hold a 10-4 winning record and with their best player averaging 12.5 points per game in contrast to Parkway North’s best player at just 5.5 points. Still, the girls plan on putting their best foot forward.
“I think we do a really good job at encouraging each other, and we all work really hard on the offensive end. We could definitely improve on our communication during defense,” senior Grace Campbell said.
Their hard work is not going unnoticed. The student body has seen them win in their last two games and form their second winning streak of the season.
“I’m happy the girls are working harder,” junior Marlon Adams who enjoys watching the girls play, said. “I’m hoping they will keep this streak going.”
With encouraging comments and Parkway North’s enthusiastic spirit section, the girls have all the support to have a successful season and re-establish their winning streak.