By: Issac Waller and Owen Glass
As our school year comes to an end, all students and parents can agree that these two years have proven themselves to be the most erratic and unexpected years we will ever experience at Quaker Valley. Throughout the protocols, the lockdowns, exposures, and cases, our coaching staff worked tirelessly to make our sports possible and deserve our highest gratitude and appreciation for their hard work and dedication. Each Quaker Valley team has had its own unique and successful seasons even with great obstacles in their way, and two teams that produced commendable results were the Quaker Valley boys soccer team and the Quaker Valley girls basketball team.
The boys’ soccer program here at our high school has proven to be one of the most successful and prestigious programs at Quaker Valley, the defending state champs came out on top with a record of 11-1-1 as of this year. The team showed a strong potential for playoffs and state championships but was tragically shut down due to a positive covid case on the team which prevented them from being able to play in the WPIAL playoffs. “This season was really good….we played well throughout the season except for a few key games..” says junior captain Ryan Edwards. As the coming season approaches, the team is optimistic about their chance of states and a chance for redemption, “I’m excited to see how the team plays next year. “I think we have a good group of talented players who have been working hard during the off-season,” says captain and junior Rowan Kriebel. The Quaker Valley soccer team shows great potential for their upcoming fall season this year.
Moving the spotlight now to the girls’ basketball team. The girls, and first time head coach Tom Demko, had an impressive 12 win 4 loss season that propelled them to the top of the section. The strong season was arguably the best in school history as they made it to the first championship appearance in some time. That being said, there were no doubts coming into the year as this was one of the best teams in recent memory. The biggest wins came at the beginning and tail end of the season. The former being Blackhawk in game 1 and the latter being Southmoreland in the WPIAL semi-finals. Both were huge wins against top competition which meant a lot to the team. Sophomore standout Nora Johns says,” The team was propelled by the leadership of the seniors. They all contributed in their own way: from motivation to scoring points when it mattered.” This is truly evident when looking at the leading scorers Corinne Washington and Bailey Garbee, who averaged 11 and 12 points per game respectively. The team will be sorry to see all the seniors go who really put this team on the map in their final season for Quaker Valley. They are retaining a lot of talent in juniors Amelia Herman and Lauren Blackmer who dominated off the glass as well as earlier mentioned sophomore sensation Nora Johns who led the team in assists per game. Looking to next season, it is this writer’s opinion that the team is reloading rather than rebuilding. We commend these girls for an amazing season and are excited to see what next season holds.
We look forward to seeing how all sports teams do next year and best of luck to all athletes participating in Quaker Valley Sports.