H-ton JV Filled with Strong Willed Players

The Huntington High School junior varsity girls’ basketball team was a collection of strong willed players who never gave up. The group played hard, regardless of the score and worked just as hard in practice refining their skills at every position on the court.

Coached by Alyssa Adomaites, the team was led by freshmen Leila O’Toole, Grace Kline, Justina Hlenski and Kate Gordon.

“Leila is a great shooter, very hardworking and very disciplined on defense,” Adomaites said. “Grace led our team in steals and she is also very hardworking on both ends of the court.”

Hlenski paced the squad in rebounds. “Justina brings a lot of energy to motivate her teammates,” Adomaites said. “She helps get her teammates into the groove of the game when things go wrong.”

Gordon shined a rebounding offensively and defensively, averaging more than five per game. “Kate is very coachable and willing to get better,” Adomaites said. “She helps on both ends of the floor, especially with rebounding.”

The Blue Devils suffered some heartbreaking losses by scores of 26-24, 32-30, 18-16, 26-25, 22-21 and 32-29. “The best accomplishment was coming back from a 16 point deficit and losing by two,” Adomaites said. “The girls were motivated and excited and kept the pressure going despite the score and did not give up. Despite not winning the game, they showed resilience and determination to give themselves the chance to win.”

O’Toole, Hlenski and Erica Hernandez were the top scorers with Kline leading in steals and Hlenski and Gordon were best in rebounding.

“The entire team is a really great group with the willingness to get better,” Adomaites said. “Despite the score and/or a win or loss, they were still looking at the positives like their overall improvement throughout the season. They were all very coachable and had great personalities on the court and off the court.”

The roster consisted of an eighth grader, eight freshmen, three sophomores and a junior. “The team is on the younger side so everyone should be returning, which will help us grow next season as a whole against the top teams,” Adomaites said. “I plan to have the team do a summer league and fall ball.”