EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Replacing a senior class in high school hoops is always tough.
However, when one of your departing seniors is the reigning Miss Basketball award winner in the state of Michigan, that makes it even harder.
The East Grand Rapids High School girls basketball team found themselves in this predicament with Macy Brown graduating and heading to Ann Arbor to play for Michigan. Without Brown and her 25 points per game in the lineup, the Pioneers started the season 0-4.
Since then, the Pioneers have turned it around, coming out victorious in 9 of 11 games. East Grand Rapids now feels like it's on the right path.
"I feel like our growth has been huge," East Grand Rapids junior basketball player Reagan Weaver said. "We have had this amazing progression throughout the season. We started off a little rough but we all had faith in ourselves and we just keep getting better everyday."
Head coach Troy Hammond says he has certainly seen that turnaround, and is proud where his team is at as the playoffs inch closer.
"We felt like they were going to be growing pains," Hammond said. "You graduate Miss Basketball and now there are whole lot of responsibilities that people get in terms of the returners we have this year. I think it has taken some time for things to start to click. I feel really, really good about the trajectory we are on."
East Grand Rapids puts its 9-6 record on the line at Greenville on Tuesday night.
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