After eight years of playing basketball for club and on the high school team, Reese Jordan, junior, jumps into the 2024 basketball season. 

Growing up, Jordan played other sports such as gymnastics and soccer, as well as basketball. 

“Basketball is just what I kind of loved the most,” Jordan said. 

After a successful season as a sophomore, Jordan returns for her third year on varsity. 

“I made first team all state last year as a sophomore, which was really cool,” Jordan said.

After recent wins against Ridgeline, Wilsonville, and Mountainside, the team continues their season in the 6A Three Rivers League (TRL). 

“I feel like we’ll get super far this year, like [the] final eight,” Jordan said. 

Last year the team placed second in the league. Unlike last season, there are no seniors on the team this year. 

“I’m hoping to get first in [the] league this year and maybe all state is one of my goals. I want to get player of the year for Three Rivers League,” said Jordan. 

Last season, Jordan had the most points per game scored on the team, averaging 15.5 points scored per game. She scored 402 points and 98 assists in the 2023-24 season, averaging 3.8 assists per game. 

The team has won three out of four games they have played so far this season, earning a 75% winning percentage. 

“I’m really looking forward to the Tualatin game,” Jordan said. “They have some really good players this year, and that’s gonna be nice for us to have some good competition in the league.”

Being a team captain takes leadership, something Kaylor Buse, sophomore, has experienced in spades. Having been around the sport her whole life, Buse has been playing basketball competitively since first grade. Her family history influenced her involvement and love of the sport.

“My dad was a coach, and so I’ve just been around his players, around his culture,” Buse said.

Now a team captain and Three Rivers League (TRL) defensive player of the year for the 2023-2024 season, Buse has found success in her play and role on the team. Playing mainly point guard, Buse has found that her position often correlates to her skills and team role.

“I think I do a really good job leading and directing, and so that kind of takes on with a point guard,” Buse said.

Buse began on varsity during her freshman season, rebounding from a season-ending injury during eighth grade. Buse tore her Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL), an elbow ligament, resulting in surgery and physical therapy and rendering her unable to play during the summer. 

“I think that was such a big obstacle mentally more than physically,” Buse said. “I was in great programs that built back my strength and have got me to a place where I’m at now, but I think, mentally, it’s a whole different challenge when you can’t seriously do what you love.”

Once again able to play, Buse shares her team’s goal of making it to the Chiles Center, where the women’s high school state championship is held.

“I think that’s our biggest team goal, is getting to the Chiles Center and try to make a run at state,” Buse said. “And making it hard for other people that we’re gonna play.”

Buse already holds offers to play college basketball for both Portland State University and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and she plans on committing and playing through college. But when it comes to a career, Buse has a different path in mind.

“I think it always lingers in my mind, going to the [WNBA], but I think after college, basketball means more than just the game to me,” Buse said. “I love to play it, but I love being around the kids and seeing growth in others, and so I think after college I want to come back and coach.”

Brooke Cates, the head coach for the women’s basketball team, serves as a role model for Buse and a motivator for the team. 

“She keeps me in check, she holds me accountable, but then she also serves as someone that I can talk to if I have a problem,” Buse said. “It goes so much deeper beyond basketball with our relationship.”

Despite not having any seniors on the team, the team environment is very close-knit and supportive. Buse even believes the lack of seniors could be a benefit, allowing the team to build bonds to last another year and be leaders for each other.

“I think people, when they don’t see seniors they don’t really see a lot of leadership, and I think that’s the opposite of what we are,” Buse said.

Third-year varsity player and now captain Sophie Maxwell, junior, has been playing basketball for over ten years, starting at seven years old. 

“My mom and dad played in high school,” Maxwell said. “So when I was old enough, they encouraged me and my brothers to play, and we just did [recreational basketball].”

Recently, Maxwell has adjusted positions on the high school team, now playing in two different spots.

“I’ve always played forward, but just recently this year I started playing shooting guard,” Maxwell said. “[The transition] has been good. I actually really love it. I love shooting, I love just having the ball in my hands, and it gives me more opportunities for plays and creating my own shots.”

For the season overall, Maxwell has both personal goals, and team goals she wants to accomplish. 

“My personal goal is to be second team all league. I did get honorable mention [last season], but I’d love to be second team,” Maxwell said. “[As a team] we want to make it to the Chiles Center, we definitely want to make it through this year because we were kind of upset last season.”

But as an underclassmen on the varsity team, Maxwell has faced obstacles during that season, impacting her in various ways.

“My confidence as a freshman, I did not want to shoot the ball, so I just played defence and that was it,” Maxwell said. “I didn’t really get to score, but growing my confidence and now having the support of my teammates, it means everything.”

For JV players aiming to make the varsity team, Maxwell has advice to overcome adversity. 

“I would say that when things don’t go your way, there’s already something else you can focus on,” Maxwell said. “If you’re not shooting well, then play a better defense. Or if your shots are going good, then maybe focus on the opposites, because there’s so many different aspects of the game, and you can be so good at one of those.”

Having played since kindergarten, Brielle Balensifer, freshman, plays wing for the varsity womens basketball team.

“I was always really active, so my parents kind of let me choose whatever sports I wanted to be put in. So I chose basketball,” Balensifer said.

Despite having to navigate her way through COVID-19, Balensifer was able to find her place on a new club team.

“COVID was hard. I didn’t play for a club until fifth grade, because basketball was kind of shutting down. Then I found a club, and it was really hard. I didn’t want to play because it was scary and I didn’t want big change,” Balensifer said. “I ended up loving it and I still play for the club.”

Although there aren’t any seniors on the team, Balensifer believes that it won’t affect her or the team.

“We have so much growth and we have an extra year. We have this roster now, and we most likely won’t be losing any people next season and I think that’s a big help,” Balensifer said. “I think our juniors and even our sophomores are really good leaders, and I think that they’re great players. I think they’re able to step up and fill that role as a senior.”

With the support from head coach Brooke Cates during the summer season, Balensifer felt confident coming into the new season.

“You have to outwork the people around you, just be the best version of yourself. Whether that’s on the defensive or offensive end, you have to be able to play both ends and be coachable. Like, if a coach wants something from you, you have to be able to deliver, even if it’s out of your comfort zone,” Balensifer said.

Balensifer doesn’t just want to focus on performances, but how she can grow.

“I’m just focusing on my growth and mindset, not necessarily my performances,” Balensifer said. “How I can fix the way I’m thinking and the challenges I’m facing in the way I grow the most and  what I can do to help other people around me.”

Recovered from several injuries, Ayla Arnold, junior, is a shooting guard on the women’s basketball team who is back and ready to play.  

“I struggled with [an] injury last year. I had a concussion and was also in a car accident that caused me some knee pain, but ultimately, with the help of my team, I got through that, and now [I’m] playing better than ever,” Arnold said. 

Playing basketball since the sixth grade, Arnold enjoys time spent with her teammates and peers on women’s basketball. 

“[I like] just any time getting to travel with the team. We always make really good memories on those trips because it’s just the team. There’s no parents or coaches, it’s just you and your teammates doing things together, and it’s always fun,” Arnold said. “I’m looking forward to the team dinners because one, I just love food, and two, the parents always cook amazing food. And we also get ready together. We eat together. Like, it’s always just a fun time, everyone smiling and laughing.”

There are no seniors on the team this year, however, Arnold doesn’t think this has affected them much. 

“I don’t think it will have a negative effect, because us juniors and Kaylor [Buse] have really stepped up in that leadership role, and I think that we’re fine without seniors,” Arnold said. “I mean, it’s nice to have an older person you can look up to, but I think we’re doing a good job of just playing as ourselves.”

She has words of advice for younger players about not just practice, but team leadership. 

“I would say to any JV player trying to make varsity[to] just work harder than anyone else, hustle and never take a day off,” Arnold said. “Just constantly talk to everyone, having a voice that people can hear, and also being someone that people can come and talk to not just about basketball, but life in general, just being that person.”

Arnold has fond memories of past games played with her teammates.

“One of my biggest accomplishments is last year when we played, we weren’t supposed to be the best team ever, but we fought our way through and we ended up being a really good team and playing well together,” Arnold said. “We made it all the way up to the second round of qualifiers for state. I was just really proud of our team throughout that year.”