Junior B-Ball Player Razee Dedicated to Team

Staff note: We’re so thrilled to have a guest article from one of our student volunteers, Gabriella Gallegos. Gabby is a junior at Battle Mountain High School planning to study broadcasting and journalism in college, and she’s learning some skills now with us through our Game of the Week productions. She profiled one of the key playmakers on VCHS Saints’ Girls Varsity Basketball for our Game of the Week production on Feb. 13. You can watch her full report here: https://youtu.be/Eyo-fLSTqYo

By Gabriella Gallegos

From welcoming new members who have never played basketball before to building the program up, junior team captain Noelle Razee shows her dedication to the Vail Christian High School Girls Varsity Basketball team every day.

Last year, five seniors graduated, and this year, the team is mostly filled out by players who have never played the sport before. Additionally, three of the five starters have suffered injuries so far this season, forcing the team to adapt. They've had to learn how to play from different positions and get in shape with conditioning, which has been new to the team this year.

“We’ve really had to work around position conflicts,” said Razee. “We've had to put in a lot of extra time and effort at practice to make sure that we are aware of what we’re supposed to be doing from every spot on the court.”

Amidst these conditions, Razee is a constant source of motivation, determination, and communication on both JV and Varsity. In her fifth year of playing basketball, the new Vail Christian coach Savannah Webster notices Razee’s responsibility to her team.

“She is the one to fire everybody up on the team, and she’s steady when everything is chaotic,” Webster said.

Razee is a leader with immense basketball intelligence on the court, and this year she's even taken on the challenge of playing new positions. In prior years, she played point guard and post, but this year, she’s switched positions every game.

Due to these changing circumstances, this season hasn’t been easy so far, but Razee said that there's been a good sense of community.

“The relationships that I've been able to form with people on the team are irreplaceable, and that's what makes basketball worth it to me,” she said.