Kinnelon Girls Basketball mothers wiping their tears with one hand while taking pictures in the other capturing their kid’s senior night in the Kinnelon High School gym. Looking back on freshman year, the now senior girls basketball players have shown how much they have grown.
Freshman Taylor Mulch describes the seniors on her team as “strong, reliable, and hardworking.” While working hard on the court and academically, the four seniors strive to become their greatest for their last and final season of Kinnelon girls’ basketball.
According to nj.com, Senior Katherine Donaldson scored 35 points in her freshman year, she now holds the record on her team for scoring over 300 points. “Every year is a little different, because every year you get a little older, and people graduate and leave, and new girls come in,” Donaldson said.
As the team entered the first round of the State Tournament, they ended their most recent game with a 61-29 win against New Milford. That will be a “W” in the stats but it won’t be the whole story.
The game’s high scorers were senior Sammy Bassin with 14, senior Sabrina Avato with 14, senior Kate Donalson with 13, and senior Jess Stubbs with 10. Once again, the lady Colts played a game in which they were expected to win and did just that.
“I think the biggest aspect is simply believing that we can do it,” Donaldson said. Donaldson, however, is a senior and has a different perspective than Mulch, who is a freshman. “I think that it gives advantages because when people know you’re a freshman they don’t want to get beat by you, so it makes the person play well against you which could help you get better and better in the future.”
With only having 2 two-pointers and 1 3 pointers in her sophomore year, two years later Senior Sabrina Avato shows her growth by now having 20 two-pointers and 29 three-pointers.“Sabrina Avato always has a positive attitude and she is always giving 100%,” Mulch says. Avato explains, “My growth since my first ever season playing has improved a lot. I am a lot less timid during games and more comfortable stepping up as a leader on the court, but that has mostly just come with time and my coach’s help”.
Though having 43 losses in their basketball career at Kinnelon High School, this hasn’t discouraged the four seniors from quitting in the past. Hardworking, unselfish, and driven are words used by Donaldson to describe her team this year. “I would tell my younger self to enjoy it because it goes quickly,” Donaldson says. However, all the girls were grateful for the lessons they learned while playing this season.
Despite losing in the NJSIAA playoffs this year, the girls will be back for the next year and will be ready to compete, even without our seniors this year.
