BY STEVE HASSEY

Shouts of “Ball Squad!” and a bunch of underclassman girls pass in the hallway.  A peculiar sight to most, this chant is the trademark of the Lady Warriors’ basketball team.

After going 20-45 in their last three seasons and 11-31 in the CHL during that same time period, Lady Warriors basketball is making an unexpected comeback.  They are  in the middle of a successful season, and looking to become the first team to win a CHL championship for Mariemont since the girls’ swim team took their championship last year.  The “ball squad” is 8-2 in the league and 12-5 overall, while being ranked ninth in the city and swiftly heading toward their first winning season since 2009.

The change in winning percentage can be attributed to the team bonding and hard work, according to freshman Lauren Getgey.  “Being so close to all of the girls on the team makes us play for each and not ourselves,” said Getgey.“Tournaments and practices on the weekends filled up a few weeks of our summer but it paid off in the long run as we continue to win games,” explained the freshman guard.  This has been a winning strategy for the Lady Warriors as they continue their success.

But this team is not one of the most well-known inside of Mariemont.

“We have a girls’ basketball team?” asked sophomore Jonathan Hanley.  This is most likely due to the fact that the Lady Warriors’ basketball team had so much success in the past few years.  But if their season continues at this rate, the team will certainly get some much deserved recognition.

They are not the most conventional of teams, either.  With zero seniors to go along with only three juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen, this group of girls has almost three times as many underclassmen as upperclassmen.  What does that mean?  It means that this school should expect some winning girls’ basketball not only for this year, but for the foreseeable future as well.

But Haley Jacobs, a sophomore forward, is not looking that far into the future.  She hopes to advance far into the postseason this year.

“We got knocked out in the first round last year, but I think that we can definitely make it to at least the third round this year,” said Jacobs.

Junior and leader of the team Emma Griffith even goes a little bit further.  “I’m guaranteeing we’ll win the first 2 rounds.”