Ferri girls advance to quarters

Top-seeded Jaguars roll to victory in prelims

Posted

The undefeated Ferri Middle School girls basketball team kept its season rolling when it beat Gallagher 46-25 in the preliminary round of the playoffs on Tuesday night.
The Jaguars were led by Caylee Allen with 11 points, followed by Jenae Smith and Jalah Pincince with 10 each. Daylin Allen also scored seven points in the win.
After being upset in last year’s playoffs, the Jaguars returned this season with high hopes and a championship or bust mentality as it has a core of four eighth graders.
“That’s all they talk about. When I came in I told them that we are going to play every game like it’s a championship game. I have set very high expectations on them because for us to achieve our goal, we need to give 300 percent, not 100. Our foot has been on the pedal since the beginning,” said first year coach Kathy Hernandez.
Hernandez is an assistant with the high school team and is looking forward to building a feeder system moving forward, as the Ferri roster has been getting contributions from all three classes in this big campaign.
“I tell (the high schoolers), ‘you guys have a good group coming in from the sixth graders up to the eighth graders.’ They’re coming in hungry and they want to be a part of something bigger, they’ll be right there with you,” said Hernandez.
With the win, the Jaguars will move on to the quarterfinals and host Portsmouth on Thursday evening.
Although the goal is to win it all, Hernandez has also stressed the importance of staying in the moment and enjoying the ride.
“There’s a huge target on our back. What people will see is that we are going to attack every single game like it is our last game. It is full force, full energy. I’m also trying to teach the girls to be humble because not everyone gets these opportunities,” said Hernandez. “They need to stay humble and have fun.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here