Northern Lights finish spring season

    With a record of 12-1-1, the Northern Lights finished their season placing second place at the state championship Youth Basketball of America (YBOA) tournament, with their only loss coming in the championship game.
Contributed photograph
NORTHERN STARS – Playing for the YBOA Northern Stars, who were runner-up in the state tournament for juniors were, from left, Casey Bonville, Laura Nicholson, Kayla Richards, Chelsea Nickerson, Amanda Fogarty, Vicky McIntyre and Samantha Carapellucci.
    Traveling the state for the month of March, the girls faced a multitude of great female athletes, and found success after each encounter. Even after the loss of the championship game by nine, these seven young women proved they are some of the finest examples of good sportsmanship and showed their coach and their fans the amazing amount of respect they have for this game.
    “The incredible competition is what makes this experience a place to grow as basketball players,” said coach Mike Fogarty.
    He saw shooting percentages increase, rebounds were stronger and more often, and general court sense was honed as the season progressed. Fogarty also noticed the fluency in which this team played, as they trusted each other. A pass was always caught and often given right back, a missed three pointer could be turned into an assist for a layup, and no one player was ever responsible for the win or the loss of a game.
    “When you coach girls with this kind of athletic ability, you go in with some pretty high expectations,” Fogarty said. “Each of the girls exceeded any of my preseason expectations. I am proud to have been a part of this group. However, this group of girls was summed up best by one of its players when she was asked who the best player on the team was.  Her response, ‘We all are.  It’s called a team.’”