The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

Whenever we play a sport, the goal is to win. And it feels great to win; it hurts when we lose. I am a devoted fan of Pioneers sports; I am proud of the winning, but I also know that winning isn't the lesson the girls will take with them into adulthood. Ok, they'll remember the glory days, but more importantly, who they have become in the process. After all, those profound lessons learned during the hard work, the resiliency to never give up, the effort, and the ability to work as a team will take them farther.

Before taking the bus to the grade school send-off and after breakfast together at the Church of God, I asked each girl to give me their thoughts. The same thoughts and emotions each girl said repeatedly convinced me they had learned the essential lessons.

As Lainey Terry, the lone senior on this year's team, spoke to me, I remembered she had seen where they had come from. She knew the lack of confidence this team had in the past. She knew the progress the lady pioneers had made in the last four years. "I'm really proud of what our team has accomplished this year, surprising the community and people around us."

Carmen Tan said, This has been an unreal experience, and I can't believe our team has made it this far. It's awesome."

Korbyn Jurenka, an eighth grader, said, "I want to thank our coaches for always cheering us on and being with us; I'm really proud of our team and from where we came from and improving. It was so good."

Jenny Sant's comment was to the point, "Our team is really good. Good. Yeah!"

Keira Galbavy: "I want to say that we are a group of girls who never give up. We keep fighting, and we just have a lot of heart. We are very proud!"

Eva Yeadon said, " I'm proud of everything we went through, the divisionals, the extra games, everything. We found strength and trust in each other, and we're able to get it done."

Genavieve Nissen said, "I'm very proud of our team for the record and all the way to state. We've worked really hard at it,"

Alex Worrall: "Our team is very hardworking, and we never give up. And that's just really cool!"

Jai Baumann: "I'm very proud of our team. We've come from winning zero games in eighth grade to continuously getting better each year and now making it to the state after not making it divisional since 2009."

Elaina Weaver: "I love my team so much. I'm so happy that we are where we are today. I think that we're like a big family. And I'm very proud of all the things we girls have accomplished."

Ni-Ve Washburn: "Oh, I'm very proud of the team. And how far have we come to get to this achievement, and how hard we have worked. It's my first year on this team, so that's been a good experience for me. The girls are really nice."

Samantha Bjornestad. "I think that we all should be really proud of ourselves. Like no matter what the outcome of this weekend is because we work so hard. And I think what we have accomplished is amazing, and I'm excited to see what we accomplished for the rest of this week."

"My name is Brianna Terry, and I'm very proud of where we have accomplished this season. Come with all the doubts people had, like the environment of doubt we faced. And we just showed everyone wrong and showed them what we can do. We can do things even when people think we can't. And that with hard work and determination, you can turn your story around."

Raea Pansch: "I'm proud of the accomplishments we've made this season and of how hard everybody's worked!

Manager Lauri Silvan, "I'm very, very proud of the girls. They did a very good job this year."

Lyndee Worrall: I am very extremely proud of all the girls on our basketball team, because they have put a ton of time in and a ton of work. And it's very impressive!"

It's what makes life successful! Congratulations!