As the pre-game music thumps, senior Alex Farrán wraps up warm-up shooting drills, and leads the basketball squad into an intimate huddle where she wishes her teammates luck before taking her place on the court as the starting buzzer goes off.

Farrán has been playing varsity all four years, having discovered her love for basketball in the first-grade and playing through middle school.

“The team has taught me how to deal with adversity and has made me want to become a leader in different areas of my life,” Farrán said.

Farrán is not always automatically associated with being a well-versed athlete, but has also played soccer and volleyball, according to her mother Helen Farrán.

“I love coaching Alex,” varsity basketball coach Reynolds Marquette said. “She works hard in practice — she works even harder in games. She’s improved a lot as a leader this year.”

Farrán has taken new varsity players under her wing and extended them her leadership and support, according to freshman Mason Cooney.

“Alex has also been a freshman on the basketball team, so she understands how confusing new plays and defenses can be for the freshmen,” Cooney said. “She is very helpful whenever we have questions because she’s been in our shoes.”

Being co-captains of the team, Farrán and senior Izzy Armstrong have formed a close friendship that aids in their ability to work efficiently and charismatically as teammates, according to Armstrong.

“Alex and I have been friends since third grade, so we know each other really well,” Armstrong said. “We know that if we’re having a problem with the team or we need to talk to the coaches, we can just tell right away. We have that give and take where we don’t even have to talk to each other. We can just look at each other and know things.”

Throughout her four years on varsity, Farrán has had two coaches, whom she says have radically different coaching techniques.

“I think it’s cool for me and Armstrong because we’ve gotten different styles of coaching, so I feel like I understand different ways of playing,” Farrán said.

The team of fewer than 11 players has made it easy to get to know everyone and strive for fluid team dynamics, according to Farrán.

“I think that team sports are a great foundation for life,” Helen Farrán said. “Learning to work with other people in a close, competitive environment will help her in college. Just knowing how to work together with others translates, whether it’s a dorm, a sorority or wherever she winds up.”