Scott Keyes
Sports Scene
This wasn’t an ordinary season for the Goodrich girls basketball team by any means.
First, potential all-state, all-everything guard and Penn State University recruit KeKe Sevillian went down in the preseason with a season-ending knee injury.
Then, no more than two weeks later, two more players went down with season-ending injuries.
Coach Jason Gray could have played the rest of the season in panic mode, but the Martians perservered and fought through the adversity and wound up repeating as Class B state champions.
“We could have asked, why us, but when you have a Taylor Gleason on your team, you never take things for granted and fight forward,” Gray said. ‘To see the type of season Taylor had this season and to watch her grow over the previous four seasons is pretty special.”
Gleason, who is headed to the University of Illinois in the fall to continue her college career, said the team rallied through adversity all season long, and when the team needed to get the job done it did.
“KeKe was with us every step of the way this season,” Gleason said. “When she went down, I knew I was going to have to step this up on both ends of the court. I was sometimes playing all five positions on the court this season, but I was willing to do anything the team needed me to do to help us win. The will to win pushed this team all season long, and I am so glad that we were able to make it as far as we did.”
Gleason will definitely be missed at Goodrich, but with star guard Tania Davis returning for her junior year, don’t be surprised to see Gray’s squad make another run in Class B a year from now.