Lady Governors on the road: "One, two, three ... TOGETHER!"
Maya McFadden Photos
Wilbur Cross's Gabi Rodriguez takes a three-pointer against Foran.
Gabi Rodriguez had a lousy day at school. You wouldn’t have guessed that watching her sink three pointers that evening.
Rodriguez, a New Haven Academy sophomore, wears number 15 and plays guard for Wilbur Cross High School’s girls varsity basketball team. She got on the court Tuesday afternoon with the help of motivation from her head coach and teammates who always make sure to keep their enthusiasm up on and off the court.
The Lady Governors lost the game 59 – 17 against Foran High School in Milford. It was their seventh straight loss this season.
Like Rodriguez, the team stayed positive and kept their spirits up throughout the game. They continually high-fived each other, cheered each other on, hustled up and down the court. The team’s morale never faltered. And they at times found their groove.
Rodriguez finished the game with nine of her team’s 17 total points, all from three-pointers.
She made three of her five attempts and shot the ball confidently throughout the game, never backing down from a shot.
As it seeks its first win, the young squad sees the season as an opportunity to grow and get better on the court together. The varsity team includes three seniors, three juniors, three sophomores, and seven freshmen.
Before Tuesday’s game started Coach Deborah McClease saw that Rodriguez was feeling down (from a personal relationship issue, she said). The coach offered Rodriguez words of advice: to leave people behind who don’t benefit her. She took the advice to heart.
With two minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Rodriguez put Cross on the board with her first three-pointer, bringing the score to 8 – 3.
“Come through Gabi!” teammates called from the bench just before Rodriguez sank another three-pointer from the right corner of the court with four minutes left during the second quarter. That brought the score to 19 – 6, Foran.
In the third quarter, the Cross team was challenged again when center Jackie Fulton was injured and had to be taken away by paramedics.
As Fulton was loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled away, the team surrounded her. They offered her fist bumps and helped to wipe away her tears.
Coach McClease left Tuesday’s game alongside Fulton, leaving assistant coach Alissa Alston in charge for the remainder of the game.
“If we didn’t have a purpose before, then we do now,” Alston told the team.
Rodriguez sank her third three-pointer in the fourth quarter, bringing the score to 55 – 15.
After the game, Rodriguez said that she was reminded Tuesday how basketball can be an outlet for her to heal .
“My team is there, and we’re here to help each other through anything,” she said. Having a strong support system, she remarked, helps get you through hard times, both on and off the court.
This Friday the Lady Governors aim to continue persisting with an aggressive and focused temperament when they face off against Shelton High School in a home game at Cross.
Gabi Rodriguez.
Previous coverage of the Wilbur Cross girls basketball: