Rocky Grove and Titusville girls are learning as season progresses

Sports are sometimes hard to cover. The tradition among the media outlets is to hail the winners and to rally around the trophies.
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High school sports are, like all sports, mostly participatory and only a few hoist hardware overhead.
The trophy might be the dream, but, for many, it is not why high school sports exist.

As community journalists, we have been covering a few different girls basketball teams this year, two who are struggling to put the ball in the hoop and, when facing easily superior squads, have numbers that are perhaps embarrassing. But if you ask their coaches they see results that may not be showing up on the stat sheet or in their records. 

"The girls keep working hard in practice and they don't give up," said Titusville head coach Tom Jones whose Rockets are now 3-13 overall. 

​Almost verbatim Rocky Grove's Brad Clayton said "These girls come to work every day and give everything they have each day. They support each other through everything and they never quit." 
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That is sports.

At least that is the majority of sports. Coaches will tell you it is about the life lessons so much more than the wins and losses.
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"As a team, we are moving much better on offense. We have made strides with seeing the floor better," first-year head coach Clayton said of his mostly young and inexperienced squad. The Orioles haven't made it into the win column this year and often struggle to score in double digits.

But there they are, each week, playing their hearts out in front of mostly empty bleachers and learning a little more about themselves, their community and the sport of basketball.

Jones, who came to the Titusville program right at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, is trying to teach the game to folks who lost a couple years of experience. "We're doing a lot more of the right things now, we're just not always executing," he said of his team.

Jones complimented Clayton's efforts trying to build from scratch. Jones said he has a great group of parents and volunteers and has a youth program with promise.

Both coaches see optimism as a better option and are trying to grow enthusiasm in their programs despite the difficulties with their records.

Jones pointed out a recent win against Iroquois, where his Rockets scored 37 points, their second highest point total of the season. "It's basketball," he said pointing that Iroquois beat Girard who the Rockets then lost to Monday night.

Clayton pointed out that all his kids are learning the game in dfiferent areas, improving along the way.​ It is a squad with three freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and zero seniors. 

"Rae (Montgomery) is the leading scorer. Faith (Copley) and Emily (Rice) are very good on defense and Zoe (Cresswell) has been getting more and more rebounds as the season has progressed. Grascen (Rayburn) has been way more aggressive as the season has progressed and Jalynne (Konetsky) has really developed her perimeter shot. Madyson (Whitmer) and Damara (Stevens) have improved tremendously throughout this season." He included a mention of Ava London, who joined the team late in the season, saying her defense has been very solid so far.

Both coaches have the best interests of their players in mind. Both are working with youth to develop for the future. Jones said the fifth- and sixth-grade programs are looking great and complimented his junior varsity players for "always competing" in their games. 

Jones pointed out Abby Colie's aggressive play in the paint and how she goes after rebounds. He added that freshman Kasey Krepps has really stepped up with her dedication to learning and working hard on both junior varsity and high school squads.

This year may seem like a struggle for both programs, but their coaches are hopeful that the players are learning something about the game and themselves.

And though the successes of this season might not show up in the history of great teams at either school, they are doing something few others at the school are doing - they are representing their schools by participating and doing their best to improve.

Perhaps by doing, they are paving the way for others. Clayton and Jones seem to look forward with hope and praise these girls for never quitting.