The Hawthorne High School Girls Varsity Basketball team is lacing up their shoes in preparation for the upcoming 2015-2016 season. The team is looking forward to the start of the season, with many strong junior and senior players.

The girls are looking to improve on last years solid record of 10-12, hoping to get above .500 this season. The team knows that in order to succeed they have to come out strong and play hard throughout the season, using both talent and technique to reach their goals.

The main goal for the Bears this season is to grow and develop as a team, focusing on skill and teamwork. The girls are looking to continue building on their already strong foundation. Senior Kaitlyn Maggoire is looking forward to her final season with the Bears, “I’m excited to see how this season plays out,” she stated, “we have a lot of strong players and good coaching. It’s nice to be a senior and be able to help lead my team.”

Varsity Coach Megan Lane has high hopes for her team this season, “We have good returning talent, as well as young players who will be able to provide some good minutes for us. I can’t wait to see them grow as players in their first high school season.” She continued, “I’m also looking forward to watching our leaders take more responsibility and becoming more invested in the team.”

The Bears didn’t suffer a huge loss in the off season, only losing one senior, Danielle Hampson. The Bears do feature strong senior leadership in Kaitlyn Maggoire, Brittany Dorta, Jenna Frei, Allison Curtin, and Samantha Calkins, who is a four year basketball letterman. There are some featured underclassmen in juniors Madison Noordeloos and Lindsey Graham, who both received honorable mention from the Passaic County Coaches Association last season. Noordeloos lead the North 1 Group 1 division in points per game in the 2014-2015 season, with Graham not far behind.

Looking forward to her 3rd year with the Bears, Noordeloos says, “We’re going to have a solid team this year. We have experienced and talented upperclassmen, as well as skilled underclassmen, it should be a good dynamic.”