Thank you for bringing us together

Abby Waechter | Managing Editor

“It’s just a game,” is what I wanted to say after I saw the Mason Girls Basketball team walking off of the court in tears Saturday night after clawing their way to the State final, and losing in overtime to the Reynoldsburg Raiders. 

Looking back on it now, I’ve discovered that this wasn’t the case.

I don’t know much about basketball, and I’m definitely not qualified to speak on the intricacies of the game, but I have gotten to know some of the people behind the jerseys. Madie Parrish is somehow in French II as a freshman, Amanda Barnes does not go by “Mandy,” Gabby Razzano is an incredible Bel Canto singer, Joy Resig looks like she would be shy, but she isn’t, and Kyla Oldacre, who pulls down rebounds with ease, is actually a gentle giant when she walks the halls of MHS. 

These girls have personalities that made up the starting line-up of the 2022 Girls Basketball team, and their impact this season has extended far beyond the court.  

The end of the season had incredible student turnouts especially at the Mount Notre Dame game and the regional final which, in growing numbers, carried all the way into the semifinal and state game. I normally prefer to not sit in the student section, but seeing the amount of people who cared for this team, just as much as I did, made me start to find myself steering toward it. 

At the semifinal and state game, the student section turnout had quadrupled, so much so that the student section illuminated the University of Dayton’s arena Saturday night. 

I waited outside in a winter storm, with hundreds of students waiting to get to the game an hour early so that they could get seats in the student section, then moshed my way through the doors and metal detectors just to sprint to the bleachers and get seats for me and my three friends, two of which had never been to a girls basketball game in all of their four years of high school. 

This seemed to be the case for many students in the student section Saturday night at Dayton. 

These Comets brought the Mason community together. Not only did students pack the stands at the U.D. Arena but I saw alumni, parents, and teachers there supporting the school as well. When I looked to my left and I saw my APUSH and English teacher sitting together in the stands cheering for the team with just as much enthusiasm as the black hole had. When I looked to my right I saw the sea of Mason students–people whose names I don’t even know but were filled with the familiar faces that I pass in the hallways everyday on my way to class. 

It was almost as if this dose of spirit was just what we needed to help stir up school spirit that hasn’t been felt since before the pandemic. 

The girls who we sit with in class and bump into in the crowded halls, managed to rally a school of 3,600 and revive the school’s sense of sportsmanship, spirit, and pride. 

Every single one of us at those games had fun. We experienced the thrill of a final four win to advance to a state championship, and felt the same sorrow of defeat as the players did Saturday night in an overtime upset. 

Support from students, alumni, parents, and families alike, who showed up Saturday night displayed school spirit that hasn’t been seen since 2019, and it was an incredible experience that I, as a student, haven’t felt since my freshman year. I missed this. I missed swaying to the “we ready” chant with friends, for friends. I missed screaming at the top of my lungs for my friends at an important tournament that they worked all season to get to. I missed the pride felt in having the biggest, and most obnoxious student section in an arena. I missed the community brought together by school sporting events. 

This “journey to state” has served as the light at the end of the tunnel amidst sickness, war, and uncertainty. Their trek through the bracket of Ohio girls basketball teams has brought back a sliver of real normalcy, and true pride.  

So, players, although tears fell from your eyes Saturday night, you should quickly wipe them away knowing that you accomplished something much larger than a State Championship. 

You brought the Mason community back together.

Photo by Lily Haller