Girls' Basketball

Kyra Mcgath • February 28th, 2026

This season, the Peninsula girls' basketball program is competing with only a varsity team after not having enough players to compete with both a varsity and JV team. While the program usually has both teams and maintained a competitive varsity presence in the Bay League, low participation led to a difficult decision that changed this season. The situation became even more challenging when seniors who were expecting to play on the varsity team with their fellow upperclassmen learned that all underclassmen would also be on the team, competing alongside them for the season. This ultimately led to seniors choosing to leave the program, reducing the numbers and altering the team even more. As a result, the remaining players were forced to adapt to an unexpected and unusual season.

With only one team competing this season, players had to adjust to new roles, expectations, and team dynamics. Underclassmen were asked to take on more responsibility, while practices became more intense as the team worked to compete despite limited numbers, and upperclassmen were asked to be understanding of the situation. The change also meant the team had to approach games differently, focusing on combining all grade levels rather than the traditional Varsity and JV separation. Despite the circumstances, the team continued to practice and compete each week. Even though the season did not unfold as originally planned, the team continued to show effort and determination in every practice and game, ultimately finishing the season by winning an SCS tournament, making head coach Natalie Kelly proud.

“Even with the challenges we faced this season, the players stayed committed and kept working,” coach Kelly said. “Seeing them come together and finish the season with an SCS tournament win really showed how much effort they put in.”

For the seniors, the loss of a JV team meant losing what would have been a normal final season with their upperclassman friends. Most of the girls had spent their underclassmen years working toward a senior season that would include leadership roles and a sense of closure to their high school experience. Instead, some were faced with the reality that their senior season would be completely different from what they had imagined. The situation left senior Jada Lin reflecting on how the loss of JV changed her senior year.

In the future, Coach Natalie Kelly, John Hangartner and athletic director DJ Clovis hope this season will be the only one without a JV team. With participation numbers being the main challenge, the focus moving forward will be on increasing student interest and rebuilding the roster within the program. As they evaluate what adjustments can be made to return to both levels of competition in the upcoming years, Clovis emphasized the program’s commitment to coming back.

“It was just a matter of the number of student athletes we had, [that’s] the reason why we had one team,” Clovis said. “It is just getting the girls to give a try at different sports. But I am always looking for ways to grow our athletic program, especially our girls' sports, and I am hoping we can compete with two teams next year.”