Columbia girls basketball players, from left, are senior Shana Desir, senior Allie Harris, junior Talia Baptiste and senior Bella Galatt.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE — The Columbia High School girls basketball team has reason to feel excited this season.
The Lady Cougars, under fifth-year head coach Chuck Keegan, return their top eight players from last year’s squad, which finished with a 14-8 overall record. The players are seniors Samiya Hill, Leah Connell, Shana Desir, Bella Galatt and Allie Harris, and juniors Talia Baptiste, Jaime Levi and Summer Lonning.
Though the Cougars are blessed with experience, they know that more work needs to be done in order to reach their team goals.
“They had a taste of some success last year,” Keegan said. “Success isn’t owned, it’s only rented, so you have to pay the rent every day and keep on working hard, and they have come with a good attitude.”
There is a good vibe surrounding the program, thanks to the team’s strong depth.
One of the key strengths of the team is its chemistry.
“They know each other,” Keegan said. “Sometimes, teams that don’t know each other need three or four weeks to get to know each other. These girls have known each other for a number of years now. That camaraderie, and knowing what each other is going to do, I think is a good strength for us.”
Two seasons ago, some of those players were on the team that finished undefeated at 13-0. The county and state tournaments were canceled in that season due to the pandemic.
Staying healthy will be a key, in addition to improving every day, working hard and staying humble, Keegan noted.
Keegan hopes his team can be improved by season’s end.
“My goal every season is to make sure that we’re better at the end than we were at the beginning, make sure we keep on improving the program, not just this year and this team, but to continue to improve the program,” he said. “It would be nice to get a couple of wins in the state and see what happens from there, and it would be nice to do well in the conference, but if we take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves.”
Columbia will tip off the season on Thursday, Dec. 15, at home against East Orange Campus.
Here is the season schedule:
- Dec. 15: vs. East Orange Campus, 7 p.m.
- Dec. 17: at West Orange, 1 p.m.
- Dec. 18: St. Thomas Aquinas, at old Paterson Catholic, 3:30 p.m.
- Dec. 20: at Mount St. Dominic, 4 p.m.
- Dec. 22: vs. Pope John XXIII, 5:30 p.m.
- Dec. 27: vs. West Milford, Pequannock Tournament, 4 p.m.
- Dec. 28: Pequannock Tournament, to be determined.
- Jan. 3: at Caldwell, 4 p.m.
- Jan. 5: vs. Montclair Immaculate Conception, 5:30 p.m.
- Jan. 7: at Pingry, 1 p.m.
- Jan. 10: vs. University, 5:30 p.m.
- Jan. 12: at East Orange Campus, 7 p.m.
- Jan. 14: at West Essex, 1 p.m.
- Jan. 17: vs. West Orange, 7 p.m.
- Jan. 19: vs. Mount St. Dominic, 7 p.m.
- Jan. 24: at Westfield, 7 p.m.
- Jan. 26: vs. New Providence, 5:30 p.m.
- Jan. 31: vs. Caldwell, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 2: at Montclair Immaculate Conception, 4 p.m.
- Feb. 7: at University, 4 p.m.
Photos by Joe Ragozzino
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