Lakeview Girls Basketball kicked off their season with a win against East High School. Since then, the Lady Bulldogs remain undefeated on the road. There have been some disappointing losses at our home court, including Jefferson, Champion, and Brookfield, but this was to be expected with losing a majority of the Varsity team last year. 

Coach Zach Brown explains, “Obviously we have a lot of young talent this year with losing 4 seniors. We are steadily improving and looking for some people to step up. Continuing to play Varsity are Brooke Schneider, Maggie Pavlansky, Gianna Caruso, and Teagan Peirce. We are looking at people like Kylie Schwartz, Marina Sanders, and Makenna Werner to step up.”

The girls are attributing a majority of their success this year to the family-like environment that has been created this year. In previous years, many feel that they were intimidated by the older leaders. This led to a divide among the team. However, this year the team seems to be coming together as a whole and working towards success. 

Sophomore Izzy Haines reveals, “I personally feel that this season is going very well. I feel like we have a better bond as a team and I feel a lot more confident this year.”

“I love all the girls on the team,” Haines continues, “The group of girls are very fun to be with and I enjoy going to practices and showing up.” 

The Lady Bulldogs had a big conference win against Girard on December 5th. The previous year they had a close split with Girard, leaving Lakeview with a hunger to beat them this year.

Brown explains, “The Girard game was a big step in the right direction with learning how to win games.”

Although both the Junior Varsity and Varsity teams got the win against Girard, this has not always been the case. However, the Varsity girls make sure everyone feels like they are a part of the action.

Sophomore Ashley Solis emphasizes, “I love the excitement we get after winning a game. I like that when the JV loses and Varsity wins, the JV isn’t excluded. We win as a whole.”

The team has high hopes for the remainder of the season. Through practice and hard work, the girls will strengthen their bond and earn more wins. 

Brown believes, “We will be playing our best basketball at the end of the season when it matters.”

The players attribute a part of their success to Junior Varsity Coach Brown, as well as Head Coach Kevin Haynie, and Assistant Coach Jessica Irwin. 

Sophomore Gigi Ferraro says, “I’m thankful that we have coaches that want us to be the best players we can be.”

Junior Maggie Pavlansky is a lead scorer for Lakeview. She is looking forward to her 3rd year playing varsity basketball. 

Pavlansky explains, “So far we have really grown as a team. We are starting to really build more chemistry and play together. We are getting better every game and we want to continue that trend and win more games.”

The Lady Bulldogs plan take on the Lady Dragons at their home court on Thursday, December 16th. Make sure you come out and support the team as they earn a win against Niles High School!