The girls’ basketball Senior Night was on January 25th. All the amazing seniors got shown some love and encouragement as they move on to a life outside of high school. One of these amazing girls, senior Alyssa Rivera, has been playing basketball for 9 years, since her days in i9 sports. The motivation that has kept her going all these years are, as she said, “My family, friends, and my younger self who wanted me to play in high school.” She loves to play basketball because “…it’s an escape from what happens outside, it’s just you and the basketball.” The best thing about her time with the Sunlake girls’ team are her memories and friendships she was able to build. The game was amazing, the Seahawk’s varsity team went up against Anclote High School. They soared to a great victory with a score of 58-18. Alyssa remembers being nervous in the beginning, but pushed past that and got more comfortable. However, she got injured in the second quarter of the game, but she said, “I persevered through it and played the rest of the game.” Feelings were heightened that night, and Alyssa was sad to experience one of her last home games. Still, she was happy she played through the game and had a great time with her teammates. Walking down the court during the ceremony brought on a lot of emotions as well. She had her family by her side, her teammates cheering her on, and so many supporters of her journey came out. Alyssa mentioned, “some of many that came to support were my family members that live with me, my aunt, my cousins, and friends.” She was sad to be leaving all her underclassman behind, but also a little relieved that she would soon finally be done with high school. Her plan is to make her final buckets in high school and pursue her education; she wants to start at PHSC to obtain an AA degree and then transfer to USF once she figures out what she wants to major in. Alyssa made a final message to her team, saying, “You truly don’t understand what adults mean when they tell you high school is going to go by quickly, until you become a senior yourself and you look back on how quick your high school years went by. Saying you need to cherish these moments and make the most out of it with no regrets after looking back. Success isn’t only about the things you achieve but about the lessons you learn along the way. Continue to work as a team and grow. I am so proud of the growth I’ve been able to witness and I will always come back and visit and support y’all. I love you girls so much!”
