Mental Toughness: Gladstone Braves building on strong start to season
GLADSTONE, Mich. (WJMN) – After a last place conference finish a year ago, the Gladstone Varsity Girls Basketball team have set their sights high in the 2023-24 season.
“Our goal is to win the conference and to make it really far, possibly even go to States this year,” said Junior Guard Tia Schone. “So I think that helps drive us. We have great leadership. We’ve got great teamwork. We really liked each other. We’ve got great chemistry this year, so I think that that helps to allow us to do great things and work really hard in practice.”
“I think the experience has been a big thing and I think the relationships on the team are good, coach to player and player to player relationships allows us to get a lot better,” said head coach Andy Cretens. “The girls trust our coaching staff. They’re willing to be coached, and that’s helped a lot. I think we’re a little bit tougher than we were last year as well.”
With a 10-player roster that’s been impacted by injury, the tight-knit bond of the team has helped them in the face of adversity.
“I think our team is a lot closer,” said Sophomore Guard Lillie Johnson. “The sophomores were friends with the freshmen before they got up here. We were prepared for them to get moved up, so I think it just kind of worked all good together.”
“I think we get along more as a team,” said Junior Guard Mayce Hanson. “I think last year we just didn’t figure each other out as well. Obviously with the other two freshmen from last year that are now sophomores, I think it just helps a lot now. A lot easier as a team.”
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Amid a current 4-game win streak, one major factor in the team’s wins has been their focus on playing tight defense with a mantra embraced by the entire squad.
“Our goal is to hold every team to less than 10 per quarter,” said Cretens.
“We’ve just got to take pride in being able to hold a team to under 10 points a quarter,” said Schone.
“Our main goal is try to get them under 10 per quarter if that’s possible,” Hanson said. “And I think right now we’re at like 9.7 I think he told us last night, which is helping us a lot and giving us a lot of energy.”
With plenty of challenges remaining on their schedule, the team will be tested on everything they’ve worked towards to reach their ultimate goals.
“Definitely starting off our games better. We need to come prepared for the games,” Johnson said. “The first quarter has kind of been our rough spot, but after our second quarter our coach kind of gets on us a little bit, but we definitely step up after our first quarter.”
“We’ve been getting a lot smarter,” Schone said. “Our team is just really bonded together. So we’re really great at making that next pass. Against Marquette we hit a lot of shots and yesterday we played some really tough defense, so all those things going right really helps us do really really well.”
“A big focus of our program is mental toughness,” Cretens said. “I think that we’re we’re a little bit tougher than most teams are something that we tried to emphasize and practice and work on and talk about a lot because I think in girls basketball you can set yourself apart if you’re if you’re mentally tough you know when things aren’t going well I think our girls stick to what we’re supposed to be doing. They can fight through those those runs for other teams. And when things get tough. I think our girls enjoy those moments and are look forward to those moments because they’re ready for it. So I think mental toughness is one of our biggest strengths.”
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