From winning league to reaching the third round of State, the Oak Park High School varsity girls basketball team had one of their best seasons yet. To start off the year, the team played a challenging pre-season that prepared them for the upcoming year. 

“Our pre-season was very intense and demanding,” sophomore shooting guard Ella Shmool said. “Our tough [pre-season] game schedule helped push us as a team and make us better.”

Going into the new year, they focused on maintaining a positive attitude. 

“We try to keep motivated, always work hard, and always work toward our goals,” said junior shooting guard Lindsay Gould. “Coach Will always tells us to be hungry and humble.” 

Midway through the season, the team faced one of their strongest competitors, Camarillo High School. The Eagles won the game 56-47, breaking the Scorpion’s win streak of 58 league games and stripping them of their Coastal Canyon League title of the past 11 seasons. 

“I knew that beating Camarillo was a big win. It was our first time playing them and it was away,” Gould said. “We knew it was the big ‘if Oak Park can beat them, they can do anything’ game. I think it really showed us that we have a positive future ahead of us.”

Undefeated in league, Oak Park headed to the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section, where they dominated and continued their journey to state. As a result, the Eagles moved up from Division 5 to Division 3.   

“It was an amazing feeling,” said freshman point guard Delaney White. “That was our whole goal really, to just kind of erase the past of last season. To be on the court and win was an amazing feeling. I don’t even know how to describe it.”

However, winning was not the only thing that made this season so amazing. It was the girls too.

“It’s a really welcoming community,” White said. “We all hang out with each other outside of basketball and we all love being around each other. It’s just a very happy and healthy environment overall and I love being there.”

Throughout it all, they encouraged and supported one another. 

“Whenever we did practice and it was a really hard practice, I would always be dancing, like I would dance when I was tired,” White said. “I would just dance the whole time and we would have a little dance circle during practice.”

Ultimately, they learned some very important lessons this year. 

“I’ve definitely learned that it takes a whole team to be where we are at and have all this success that we have today,” White said. “It’s never just a one person game, it may look like that, but behind the scenes, we need everybody there for every game in order to win.”

Though it may be the end of this season, the next is just beginning.

“I think next year is going to be even better than this year. We return all of our starters, there is new people coming in, and we are just excited for the future,” White said.