MARINETTE — When you walk into the Marinette high school gym and look high up on the wall, you will see a banner with state and conference championships for nearly every sport – except girls basketball. Well, the Marines are on the verge of making history, forcing their school to find a spot for where their banner should go.
“It’s just crazy to us,” said Marines junior point guard Chloe Seymour. “We’ve been playing together since 4th grade. We’ve been dreaming of this for a while and it’s all just a really cool experience.”
When fifth year head coach Zac Barker told his team before the season started they could finish first in the North Eastern conference:
“I just kind of looked at him and I was like, 'you’re crazy',” said Seymour.
He could tell for a few years, this group was going to be special.
“I saw they had the characteristics, but they’re very coachable and work together,” he said.
The players knew it would be a tall task taking down perennial contenders.
“It was kind of difficult at first because we have like Freedom and Wrightstown to beat, doing this was like an achievement,” said junior point guard Bryanna Torkko.
This is a group that is as close as it gets – 6 juniors lead the way for the Marines.
“Oh my gosh we spend every single day together, all day long and we never get tired of each other,” said junior shooting guard Riley Keiffer.
“We’re all best friends off the court and on the court,” said Seymour. “It’s just we know each other so well that everyone was like this grade is going to be something special.”
As for what leads to their success:
“We all have a role and we don’t get discouraged if one of us scores like two points and the other has like 30 – as long we win and play our role then we’re all happy,” Seymour said.
All of the basketball they have played together and close friendships built has them one win away from making program history – their first conference championship.
“It’s just crazy to me that this has been like something we’ve all been dreaming of since we were so young,” said Seymour.
They’ll have to do so without their leading scorer, Riley Keiffer, who is likely out for the season with a knee injury she suffered in their win over Freedom last Friday to take the conference lead.
“Obviously this knee injury was heartbreaking for me, but it’s amazing to see my teammates do this and I know that they’re going to be able to finish it out,” she said.
No matter what happens, they’re showing everyone that Marinette can be a winning program.
“I like that we like showed that we can and we are capable of winning and showing the community that we can do something,” said Torkko.
(UPDATE: MARINETTE TOOK HOME THE NEC CROWN WITH A 64-36 WIN OVER LITTLE CHUTE ON TUESDAY NIGHT)
