Despite 2 ACL tears, 2 concussions, 1 ACL sprain, and 3 ankle sprains; the Palmer Trinity School Girls Varsity Basketball team gained a District victory last season for the second year in a row. This year, the Falcons come back more determined than ever to make it to States.
7 Seniors return to the team this season including star players Samantha Waldman, Claire Hebb, and Kyrah James. Last season, Waldman broke every shot blocking record in the program and Hebb set the single season scoring record with 523 points and the free throw % season record with an incredible 83% made. Despite an early season injury, James set the School’s single game scoring record with a whopping 33 points.
“Our offence runs through Kyrah and Claire and our defense is geared around Kyrah’s strengths and rebounding abilities so they really are what we center our system around and when we play other teams they are the two players that they are trying to stop,” said Coach Valle.
Falcon fans can also look forward to the addition of two new freshman players this year. Keelin Herling joins the team this season in the two guard position. Herling is a very tough player, who loves to get involved and mix it up on rebound plays. Standing at 6 ft. 2 in. tall, Aasiya Berry is playing in the post position this season.
“Both girls make us deeper both on the perimeter and the post,” said Coach Valle. “Aasiya is a very raw player but she’s got talent you can’t teach. There’s not a lot of players that match her physically and she brings a skillset to our team that we didn’t have before.”
Head Coach James Valle and the entire Coaching Staff have been hard at work with the team to get in shape for the season. Over summer break, the girls participated in the Amateur Athletic Union Showcase tournament in Orlando, FL. While the team only finished 3-2, they competed against some of the topAAU teams in the nation in a NCAA certified event.
This year’s team is stronger than ever and Coach Valle says he owes it to his talented coaching staff and the commitment of his players. “I don’t like to talk about wins and losses, I like to talk about what we need to do to get better and what we’re going to do as a team to get better,” said Coach Valle. “I’m a believer in the process and I think if they do things the right way and they compete in practice, by the end of the year we will be exactly where we want to be.”
About Palmer Trinity School: Palmer Trinity School—a coeducational, Episcopal day school—provides a rigorous college preparatory curriculum that integrates knowledge, compassion and social responsibility. Palmer Trinity School serves students from a broad range of socio-economic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds in grades 6- 12. For more information about the school, visit www.palmertrinity.org.
