FALCONS SOAR OVER THE RANGERS AFTER LOSING THREE STARTING PLAYERS

 By: Dominique Hartman

Photo by: Senior Parent

Although three starting players are down because of Covid, Jefferson Township won against Wallkill Valley, 51-22, on Friday, December 17th.

Some key players that have impacted the game were Emily Poulas, Amanda Nwankwo, Cassity Ball, Allyson Legora and Bryn Fitzgerald. Coach MacDermid thinks that every player impacts the team and that there isn’t a clear starting 5. Before the game MacDermid said, “We are all we need.”Although offensively Poulas, Nwankwo and Legora put points on the board, the team heavily focuses on the defensive side. Throughout the game Jefferson caused a lot of turnovers for Wallkill and forced them to make bad shots. Jefferson’s defense is why they won the game.

Covid has impacted many teams including Jefferson. It has wiped out 2 starting varsity seniors Mackenzie Rock and Ivana Tisma and starter sophomore Kayla Bak. Legora said, “Losing three big starters had a very hard impact on us. No one has what we have and we all have very good relationships with each other. No one backed down today and when we want the win we go out and get it!” Besides covid, Nwankwo had her first varsity game back since her ACL injury against Newton last year. Nwankwo said, “Some teams may have great people but things that other teams don’t have are great relationships.” Nwankwo is very happy to be back on the court with her teammates. 

Going into the game Jefferson's main goals were rebounding, making smart passes, and having energy. Another big thing was stepping up after losing some players to covid. A very big strength of Jefferson is their defense. They are very athletic and make it hard for other teams to shoot. A weakness that Jefferson has would be playing too fast. They need to slow down so they can get a good opportunity to score. Wallkills strength was playing very fast which made Jefferson have to react faster. A weakness of Wallkill would be their defense because they struggled stopping Jefferson’s shooters.

This game was a really good start for the Jefferson Falcons and they are hoping to keep up the wins. Jefferson will take on Montville Wednesday, Dec 22nd and hope to bring success to the next game.