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![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
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![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Varsity girls basketball loses in first round of CCS against Terra Nova
Junior Jordan Thompson drives to the basket in the gym at Blackford. The varsity girls team lost to Terra Nova in the first round of CCS yesterday.
February 24, 2016
The varsity girls basketball team lost 44-52 in the first round of CCS playoffs against Terra Nova High School at the Blackford gym yesterday.
The Eagles led the first quarter with a score of 11-7 and entered halftime behind 23-26. At the end of the third quarter, the girls were ahead 38-35.
Coach Tomas Thompson commended the Eagles for their continuous efforts till the last buzzer at the end of the game.
“I think we played really hard and I was really proud of the effort the girls gave tonight. They did everything I asked them to do and we fought the post really well,” he said. “We didn’t stop playing hard. Terra Nova probably had the best post-players. They had two or three that gave us a lot of trouble with inside shots and they got a good body on us, which brought us down a little bit but we stayed with it the whole game which made me very proud as a coach.”
The team’s point guard, Joelle Anderson (11), was not able to play during this game because she was not feeling well.
“I felt bad for not being able to play, so the least I could do was be there to support them,” Joelle said. “I couldn’t have asked for better teammates or coaches because they all have been amazing on and off the court. It was also sad to see our seniors, Aishu and Aathira, play their last basketball game. They have really led our team with their leadership and we all look up to them. Overall, we know that we are a young team and we are just going to keep improving and we can’t wait for next season.”
Even then, Satchi Thockchom (10) believed they played well and made the best of their situation.
“Despite not having Joelle, who is a huge part of our team, we all fought hard the entire game and held on to the last second,” Satchi said. “The posts ran really hard and played great defense, and Jordan kept working on offense to keep us in the game.”
Small forward Kailee Gifford (11) also expressed commendation to her team despite the undesired final outcome.
“I thought it was a really good game,” she said. “Obviously it was kind of a heartbreaker because nobody likes to lose, especially a game that we were more than capable of winning, but that is just how it happens sometimes and the important thing is that we held our heads high and are really proud of what we did this season.”
This game marked the end of the girls’ season at 16-9 overall. The varsity boys basketball team will play their first round CCS game this Thursday at San Lorenzo Valley-Felton.
