WEB EXCLUSIVE Varsity basketball team wrapped up a three-day tournament in Redding, California today.

“We make this trip because it gives our team a chance to bond,” head coach Reynolds Marquette said. “It’s a fun trip, and we play some teams that we definitely don’t see the rest of the year.”

The Cubs lost 25-67 on Thursday evening but followed with 51-48 and 53-40 wins on Friday and Saturday at the 2018 Lady Hornet Classic tournament hosted by Enterprise High School. The team left the tournament as consolation champions and maintained the three-year record of winning two out of three games at the tournament, according to Marquette.

“We did a fabulous job rebounding, and we were communicating a lot better than we normally do,” co-captain Sydney O’Neil, who was named part of the All-Tournament Team, said.

O’Neil played her first game of the year on Thursday after recovering from a foot injury that kept her on the bench for most of the preseason. As a starting player for the past two years, she says she was glad to get back on the court.

“Sitting on the bench was tough, but I was able to see how the team was progressing from the beginning of the season to now,” O’Neil, a third-year varsity player, said. “I liked yelling on the bench, but yelling in the game is so much more fun.”

The team maintained their three-year tradition of having dinner at Olive Garden and passed the rest of the time off the court by playing cards, doing homework and talking.

“Winning a couple of games was really great, but I also liked how I got to know everyone better,” freshman Cecilia McQuaid said. “We hung out and talked a lot, and I don’t talk to older classmen that often.”

The tournament ended the Cubs’ preseason, and they begin the season on Tuesday against Lick-Wilmerding High School at the Herbert Center.

“We gained a lot of experience and a lot of confidence from this tournament,” Marquette said. “I’m hoping that that will carry forward now into league play.”