State basketball from a spectator's view

By Kenna L

I remember being in the Cedar Falls gym on Monday, Feb. 22. The gym was hot and packed, but we had just found out our girls had made it to the State Basketball Tournament. Many, sadly, had thought it would be a long shot as North Butler was ranked third and had a pretty tough set of girls to compete against. In the end our girls played an amazing game, and came out on top to make it to State.

Being one of the hundreds of excited Valley spectators, I was really pumped for our girls to play in the State Tournament. Not only was it unbelievable that our girls basketball team was going to State for the first time in twelve years, but it was amazing to me the journey they had overcome to get there.

In the week following our sub-state win, the Valley hallways were filled with the question of "Where are we going?" and the obvious answer of "TO STATE!" Everyone was buzzing with excitement, and I can only imagine how nervous, excited, and determined the girls were that week.

Walking into Wells Fargo Arena bright and early Monday morning along with the other Valley spectators, I was wearing red and had high hopes and a lot of spirit. It was cool to see all the spectators that came, coming from far away places to watch our girls play. Many spectators arrived at ten for the game before, although our girls did not play until eleven-thirty. So when our game finally started, our students ran down to create our student section. Although our girls did not play their best game, our crowd continued to cheer until the end. Despite the outcome of the game, I know I am still very proud of our girls’ basketball team. Congratulations, girls, on your great season, we are all proud of your accomplishments.