The Notre Dame Academy girls basketball team concluded their season with a 71-63 loss to Pulaski. This marked the end of their season with a 18-7 regular season record. The Tritons will be saying goodbye to three seniors. 

“As much as I will miss suiting up and playing the sport I love on the court, I will miss being with my teammates the most,” explained Ashley Lemens, a senior at NDA. 

Rachel Bal, Ashley Lemens and Emily Cribben have all played in the girls program for four years. Leaving the team after a success-filled four years is not an easy task. 

“As hard as it is, I’m glad we went out with a bang. Being regional champions was a fantastic achievement that shows how hard we worked,” said Bal. 

The most memorable moment for all three seniors was beating Bay Port and handing them their first loss since last season. 

“It was my favorite moment of the season. It was genuinely such a fun game, and it was a great team win all around,” said Cribben. While this season has been great in rounding out the high school basketball careers of the three seniors, it wasn’t easy getting to this point. 

“It took a lot of hard work to get where we got to. The program and the sport pushed us as athletes and as students by managing the workload during the season,” explained Bal. 

Being in a dedicated sport like basketball and in a program that has a tradition of succeeding (state titles in 2013 and 2014) is not an easy task. For example, in eight seasons at Green Bay’s Notre Dame Academy, Sara Rohde’s teams are 173-60. All three seniors credited the tradition of success to hard work and dedication to the process.

Head Coach Rohde has coached NDA basketball for eight seasons. Rohde, a UW-GB graduate and former collegiate basketball player, carries the same principles as a player to coaching. 

“You have expectations to live up to at UW-Green Bay. I have been trying to instill that with our girls. You teach the upperclassmen how to be good leaders and set a good example for the young kids. Let them know the expectations of the program,” Rohde explained. 

As for the three seniors, their future is bright regardless of what path they choose for the future. 

“I am definitely going to miss being with my team everyday and goofing off. We have become so close, and it’s hard to say goodbye,” said Cribben.