The Varsity Girls Basketball program is undergoing a change as Kelsey Lewis, former JV coach, stepped into the Varsity Head Coach role. This promotion marks a new chapter for the program, bringing fresh energy.
“The team is adjusting to the changes really well,” states senior Kacey Raines.
Lewis went to Poolesville High School from 2009-2013. She was on Varsity Softball and Varsity Basketball during this period.
“Growing up with parents who were super invested in youth sports in the community helped me grow a love for the sport,” Lewis said.
Lewis’s goal for this year is to build confidence and win. She has introduced new strategies like running more, shooting more, and scrimmaging more. She also uses techniques such as bringing back team dinners to help improve team camaraderie.
Lewis has also introduced the “hustle hat” this year. The “hustle hat” is a hard hat, personalized to the team with the Falcons logo, given to a player (after each game) who has worked the hardest over the week leading up to and during the game.
“I hope this helps push our girls harder to give their all on both sides of the court as it is a fun way to promote energy and hustle on our team,” said Lewis.
Last season under Coach Katie Hackey the team went 12-9 overall and was 5-3 in the region, placing 3rd in the region. This year the first four games have been the same as last year: a loss against BCC, a win against QO, a win against Wheaton, and a win against Watkins Mill. This year under Lewis the team lost against BCC by fewer points than last year and won against QO by more points. So far, there have been more points scored compared to last year against the same teams.
A challenging part about being the Varsity coach this year is there is a lack of a home gym. Due to ongoing construction, no gym is available for sports teams to use for practice and games. The team practices in the aux gym and middle school and plays all their games at the opposing team’s schools. While they still technically have games listed as “home” these games are played at the other team’s school.
Lewis stated, “It’s hard playing teams who always get to practice in the gym they are playing in. Seems simple but not having that edge is hard to deal with sometimes.”
