Grace Tips off the Season at Barclays Center
For the 5th year in a row, the Grace varsity basketball teams held their annual kickoff scrimmage at the Barclays Center. Both the girls team and the boys team took on Berkeley Carroll in two highly touted matchups in Brooklyn to cap off the annual Spirit Day for the Grace community.
The boys took the court first and lost 38-11 on a tough shooting night. They had opportunities but just couldn’t convert them into points. Despite their struggle, they enjoyed the experience of playing at Barclays Center: “It was a great experience to play on an NBA court, but because of that we got a little winded early” said Jeremiah Wilkins ‘18. “I had a lot of fun playing and it was great to see the community come out and get together over basketball.
Coach Quinn agreed with Jeremiah saying: “The overall day was a great success. The community came out strong and showed tremendous support for our athletics program. As a team we did not play our best, but that is way sports work sometimes. I thought our boys played hard, we just could not make any shots. It is tough to get into a great rhythm during a scrimmage, but everyone got a chance to experience what it is like to play on an NBA court, which is a great opportunity.” Coach Quinn added that the boys will have a chance for redemption. “Berkeley Carroll is a strong program, we play them twice during our league season, I know that our guys will be ready when we play them again.” The boys team had a tough time yesterday getting shots to fall, but hopefully they will find their rhythm when they play Berkeley Carroll later in the year.
After the boys wrapped up, the girls took the floor and put out a dominant performance winning 37-23 over the Berkeley Carroll girls.
Angelika Rodriguez ‘18 and Casey Donnelly ‘20 led the Gremlins in a big offensive game for the girls. Angelika was happy with how the team played,
“It was a good start to the season because last year we completely rebuilt the team, and now are our team is getting stronger. It showed yesterday during the game.” This game was also a way to get freshmen, such as Julie Silverman ‘21, experience at playing on such a big stage, “It was a little intimidating at first” Silverman ‘21 said. “I was intimidated because I was playing with older girls who were really good and we were playing a challenging team as well. It was so cool and fun to play in front of such a big crowd!”
The spirit was great throughout the day. 
Students such as Ava Pingree ‘19, also a member of the cheer team, were happy with how the day went and the experience of performing at Barclays Center. “It was really fun. All throughout the day, the cheerleaders were involved in school spirit such as dancing and face painting, and we wore our uniforms all day. We also had a pep rally for the Middle School in the morning.” Ava also described the feeling of cheering at such a big arena. “Just being at Barclays Center with its novelty gave us all excitement to begin with and being able to perform was even better.It made us feel professional. We worked hard on our performance so it was to have performed it outside of Grace at a large and renowned space.”
Grace students of all ages and their parents made the trip to Brooklyn to attend the showcase match-ups and cheer on their school. Grace teachers and administrators also came out in force, including drama and music teacher Mr. Leonard who led the large Grace crowd in a cheer of, “Give me a G-R-A-C-E!” All in all, the Barclays games and spirit day were a success giving athletes a chance to perform on a big stage and fans a place to gather together and celebrate sports, the community, and the school.