Player’s Perspective: Season Recap
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Now that the season is over and the AAU circuit is beginning, I decided to go back and ask players in all 4 classes about how their seasons went, from their perspective. Here are the next couple players! Gia Powell…
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Continue ReadingNow that the season is over and the AAU circuit is beginning, I decided to go back and ask players in all 4 classes about how their seasons went, from their perspective. Here are the next couple players!
Gia Powell
Gia Powell
How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?rn-I think our team had great success this season even through many ups and downs, we continued to work as hard as we could and push each other everyday in practice. this lead to us making a good run at state for the first time since 2009 for Meadowdale. Personally I’m very happy with my season i accomplished the goals i set out for myself before the season and i was able to help lead this team to an unforgettable season.
What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?rn-The biggest obstacle we faced as a team was just being able to believe that we can accomplish big things. From the start our coaches would continue to preach believing in our goals and although we said we did there were definitely moments of doubt, but constantly being told to believe is what took us as far as we did.
What do you think you improved most on the court?rn-What i think i improved most on was just becoming an overall playmaker and being able to score and create for my team at all times. I also improved as a leader that helped me become a better playmaker, scorer and defender.
What are you looking to improve before next season?rn-What I am looking to improve before next season is just getting better at always being able to score when the ball is in my hands. I constantly train and practice to become a better scorer, passer, shooter and defender, so i hope to improve on every aspect.
Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?rn-Some teammates that I think stood out this season is Jordan Leith Jordan Leith 5’8″ | CG Meadowdale | 2023 State WA and Ava Powell. Jordan is a fantastic shooter and facilitator. While Ava is a rebounding machine and will get on the ground for any loose ball. Some teammates i think could have a breakout season in years to come are Kaiya Dotter, Audrey Lucas Audrey Lucas 6’0″ | PF Meadowdale | 2025 State WA , and Samantha Medina Samantha Medina 6’1″ | C Meadowdale | 2025 State WA . Kaiya is one of the best defenders i know she is incredibly athletic and aggressive and always goes for it. Audrey is unstoppable in the paint and Sam is our most versatile post.
Yuna McConnell
Yuna McConnell
How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?rn-I think that we performed well, but it was a bummer that we didn’t make it past the first round in the state tournament. We have really grown together and learned to play together so much better since last season. We definitely had our ups and downs but fought together when it really mattered and won some big games in the end to get us to the dome. From a personal standpoint, I played maybe the last 8ish games coming back from my 9 month acl injury. Obviously coming back, my first few games weren’t going how I wanted as I had to grow my endurance, skills and especially confidence all back and it was definitely a process. I’m happy with how I ended the season as I improved dramatically from my first and last game back in the dome and am just happy that I got to experience playing in the dome and getting to play with Ella, our senior in her last season.
What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?rn-For me, my biggest obstacle was confidence coming back from my injury. It’s hard coming back in such a critical part of the season, every game and mistake mattered. I think that one of our main obstacles was definitely injuries. We had 3 varsity players including myself who were injured most of the season and so we were missing part of our team. Another thing is changing our playing style from last year. The past few years, the program has been reliant on one star player, but this season, everyone can play so I would say it was a big process in learning how to play as a team, but I could definitely see major improvements from last year and the beginning of the year.
What do you think you improved most on the court?rn-Throughout my short season, I would have to say my confidence level was the biggest improvement. I would hit shots in practice, but would freeze in game like situations. The person who helped me most with this on the court was my assistant coach Sean. He would say every practice “Remember your a shooter” giving me more confidence to shoot in games.
What are you looking to improve before next season?rn-Before next season, i want to become more consistent in my shot and creating more opportunities for myself and my teammates. I also want to be a big defensive threat and help my team make it far in the state tourney as we have so much potential with strong underclassman.
Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?rn-Honestly everyone contributed so much to our teams success this season. Our whole team was solid and we could rely on anyone to go out and give it their everything. My first teammate that stood out was Ella Kaleta Ella Kaleta 5’10” | CG Bothell | 2023 WA . We can always rely on her to hit a big shot and she could drain it from our cougar logo. Not only is she a hooper, she also has great leadership. She has been a captain since my freshman year and if we are loosing at halftime, she will be in the locker room telling us that we are still in it and pumping us up to go back out. The next one is Mckylee Hawkins Mckylee Hawkins 5’11” | SG Bothell | 2024 State WA . She was our leading scorer and we could rely on her to make a clutch shot or grab big rebound in important games. She also can defend well and makes some big time blocks. My last is Ashlyn Peterson Ashlyn Peterson 5’7″ | PG Bothell | 2024 State WA . She is our point guard and sets the tempo for us and can handle the ball very well. She is always putting in work and can drain any type of shot. She is one of our biggest defensive threats and she can lock up anyone. I think that our underclassman who were freshman this year will have big years next year. Charlotte lipkin is a huge defensive threat and can knock down 3s consistently. Zia Anderson can also knock down shots and is a great defender, and is super quick and aggressive. She was a key player who stepped up for us in big games especially in the end of the season. Kayleah Hawkins Kayleah Hawkins 5’10” | PF Bothell | 2026 State WA is strong downlow and can rebound like crazy. Lastly, Lila Stroup. She was a swing player but one of the most consistent shooters throughout our program. She dropped multiple 30 and 40 point games on Jv so i’m excited what she will bring next year.
How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?rn-I believe we had a good year for how new our team was. It took us some time to gel though. This season had its challenges, but also opened up lots of doors for me and allowed me to become a more well rounded player. I was able to play at a higher levels where I had stats all around the board from points, rebounds, assists and steals.
What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?rn-The biggest obstacle I believe my team and I faced was losing an important game to get us to the Tacoma Dome. Not making it to state was heartbreaking and something that was a big goal for us. We fell short off a last minute buzzer beater. That just fuels us to come back stronger and better next season.
What do you think you improved most on the court?rn-Defense is something I believe I improved on most this season. I was able to get a lot of steals through the passing lanes this year and apply more on ball pressure.
What are you looking to improve before next season?rn-Improving on my conditioning is key. Getting in the weight room consistently is something I’ve been doing in order to get bigger, faster and stronger as I’m playing in these games.
Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?rn-A teammate that stood out this season was Brooklynn Haywood Brooklynn Haywood 5’8″ | PG Union | 2026 State WA , she had a record breaking year and theres never been a freshman that has came into this state and impacted the game like she did in a long time. We played off each other and made each other better. A teammate who I think could have a breakout year is Rowyn Riley Rowyn Riley 5’5″ | PG Union | 2024 WA , she’s going to have a leadership role as a senior and we’re going to need her to win. She had some big games for us throughout the season this year!
How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?rn-I think the team performed very well this season. At first it was a little shaky with team chemistry, there were really only 3 full time returning varsity players, but as the season went on we got to know each other more and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We got to highlight each other’s strengths with the plays that we ran. We learned how to play as a team, and our team chemistry got so much better. I think I played fairly well this season, I had a double double in over 3/4 of our games and really focused on rebounding.
What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?rn-The biggest obstacle the team faced this season was other teams who had length. We were challenged with the majority of our players being under 5’6 except 3 of us and rebounding at times was challenging and our guards driving into the paint was pretty physical. I really developed more on court maturity and that helped a lot.
What do you think you improved most on the court?rn-I think really my leadership/confidence on the court was a lot better, and I always have a high motor and using that and my basketball iq was really helpful. I also showed I can play multiple positions, inside and out.
What are you looking to improve before next season?rn-Something that I am looking to improve before next season is my 3 point shot and facing the basket. I have a lot of tricks in my bag but I need to use them, AAU will help me use those this spring/summer and hope to transfer that to hs season next year.
Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?rn-2 of my teammates that could stand out next season -Griffin Eyman and Keira Tupua. Those 2 players could have breakout years next year. They are both good players and with AAU experience under their belt this spring/summer they will get higher level experience to bring back to school. I think this season Ella Eden’s showed a lot of leadership as one of our seniors and took in that senior role well.