PART 2: Riverside Winter Sports Q&A

High school sports are back in full swing as winter sports have picked up since the holiday break.

Basketball is among the popular sports for students at Riverside.

We caught up with the athletes of those teams to see what they are doing to prepare for the upcoming rivalries, to offer some perspective on the season ahead and their plans for the future.

This is part two of a two part series featuring area seniors in winter sports, for a look at PART 1 of our series, click here.

Samantha Finch

How many years have you been in Basketball? I have been playing basketball for 8 years.

What do you feel is your biggest strength in Basketball? I feel like my biggest strength in basketball is defense. I am a very defensive minded player.

What is your favorite part of it? My favorite part of basketball, especially now, is it just is a place I can get away from reality and just have fun. I also like the connection and friends you make during the experience.

How have you and your group been getting ready for the new season? We’ve been doing a lot of drills, putting in a lot of time. Running a lot. We’re just trying to do everything we can to be prepared for the season, even with the circumstances we are in.

How has Coronavirus changed the way your group trains or practices? Coronavirus has changed the way we practice because every time we practice, it could be our last. With the shutdowns it’s been hard for everyone obviously. We have been adapting to everything thrown at us, and I feel like our coaches are doing everything they can to get us as ready as possible.

How do you think this season will be different because of Coronavirus? The season will definitely be different, it already is. Spectators aren’t allowed which will make the games very quiet. Other than that, I think basketball is basketball. I don’t really think they can change the game.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? Ellwood I would say is definitely our rival. As long as Riverside and Ellwood are both schools, I think they’ll always be our rival.

What is one skill you have learned from Basketball that you will utilize in your future and how? One skill I have learned and will utilize is how to be early. Basketball practice will start at 6 but I will leave at 5, even though the court is 15 minutes away from my house, just in case. It also showed me how to appreciate things, because they can be gone so quick. Coronavirus and being a senior really made me realize that.

What are your future plans after graduation? Will you continue to play sports after high school? I plan to go to a 4-year college to study special education or speech pathology. I am not sure if I am going to play a sport, but I would be interested if it becomes available to me.

Maura Rosenberger

How many years have you been in Basketball? I have been playing basketball since I was in second grade. I started playing at Holy Redeemer and then moved to Riverside in 7th grade and have been playing there since then.

What do you feel is your biggest strength in Basketball? I feel like rebounding and leadership on the court are my biggest strengths

What is your favorite part of it? My favorite part is watching the team grow over the season and come together and play as a whole.

How have you and your group been getting ready for the new season? Getting ready for the season has been harder this year due to COVID restrictions and our practices getting shut down. But now we are all back in the gym everyday working hard and getting better each day and preparing for games.

How has Coronavirus changed the way your group trains or practices? Our practices have been shut down but now we are back and we are wearing masks during practice and games, we do wellness checks before every practice and we have been social distancing on our bench as well.

How do you think this season will be different because of Coronavirus? I think this season will be very different. As of right now, not a lot of people are allowed to come and watch us play and I hope that can change because as a senior it is very important to me that my family is able to come watch me play. Also, we have to play with masks on during the games and no athlete has done that before so it will be interesting to see how players handle playing with one on.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? I feel as though Ellwood is our biggest rivalry this year. It has always been a big game for us and before COVID the stands were packed to watch the game and it is always so competitive because each team wants to do their best and win.

What is one skill you have learned from Basketball that you will utilize in your future and how? I feel one skill that I have learned and will use in the future is adaptability. This year is very different than the last 3 years of my time playing high school basketball, things are changing every week and I am learning that you have to adapt and change quickly to the plan. This year I am playing a different position than I have in the past, but I am learning how to play the position.

What are your future plans after graduation? Will you continue to play sports after high school? As of right now I am leaning toward going to Slippery Rock University to major in Education. Even though I love the game of basketball and the lessons and opportunities it has given me, I will not be playing in college. I am looking into playing on intramural team though.