Gold balloons spelling out “ROAR,” yellow and white streamers hanging on the bleachers, and posters of the seniors on the girls basketball team plastering the wall decorated the gym for the girls basketball senior night, Jan. 30.  

In 2021, the school’s first girls basketball team was created. The current seniors on the team, digital media senior Briana Dean, theatre senior Gilly Pacheco, visual senior Edeena Saint-Vil, and communications senior Shailee Patel, started on the team as freshmen, while band senior Kayla Burgess joined her sophomore year. During their time playing, they have seen the team change from its initial creation to now.  

“Being part of the team has shaped my high school experience and personal growth because I had to learn how to balance my personal life, school, and also my extracurriculars, so it definitely taught me how to be responsible but also how to be a leader,” Pacheco said. 

Communications alumna (from the class of 2022) Semaj Griffin originally founded the girls basketball team in her senior year at the school. During her freshman year, she played on the boys basketball team since the school did not previously have a girls team while also participating in travel basketball from her freshman to junior year. In her junior year, Griffin went to Principal Blake Bennett to propose the creation of a girls basketball team. 

“I was really thankful for the administration and staff for listening to us and also the idea of pointing us in the right direction,” Griffin said. “I’m glad the team is still going strong.” 

Griffin was already a senior when the girls team was established in the 2021-2022 school year. During the basketball season, she was asked to be captain of the team, and although she felt that she “didn’t have enough confidence” at first, she “gained more” once the season began. 

Dean and Pacheco are this year’s co-captains of the team. Math teacher Joshua Millstein said their “leadership, experience, and commitment” have helped shape the team’s environment. Among the members, some players have nicknames that revolve in the group such as “Silly Gilly” for Pacheco.

“It’s like a family dynamic,” Mr. Millstein said. “It is so cool because you have a kind of a big sister and little sister type (of) thing, and just watching the underclassmen grow into the leaders is such a nice thing to see.”

Mr. Millstein is the current girls basketball team coach and has been coaching the team since last school year, which was also his first year teaching at the school. For the two years Mr. Millstein has been coaching, he has seen the “impacts they (Dean and Pacheco) put on the team,” whether that is showing up in a good mood or bringing “energy” to the game.  

“Briana is determined, (so) whatever she ends up doing in college, she’s going to follow that path,” Mr. Millstein said. “Silly Gilly is definitely positive. She tries to build up the others on the team during practices and games.” 

History teacher Jeffery Stohr was the former coach of the team and led it for the first two years of the team’s existence. Mr. Stohr has watched the current captains play since their first year on the team. 

“Briana is such a hard worker and Gilly is the biggest-smallest person on the team,” Mr. Stohr said. 

Shailee Patel joined the team in her freshman year. This school year was her third year playing on the team, since she didn’t play in her junior year due to her other extracurriculars and academics getting in the way. 

 “I didn’t do basketball last year, so this is my first year with him (Mr. Millstein), and he accepted me completely,” Patel said. “He’s been a great coach and a great person in our lives too.” 

Burgess joined her sophomore year, and this was her third year being a member. She said being on the team has played a role in her personal growth, teaching her “discipline, teamwork, and resilience.” 

“It (being on the team) wasn’t just about playing. It was about showing up for one another and working towards a common goal, and they gave us a sense of purpose,” Burgess said. “Everyone had a role to play, and it wasn’t just individual work. You had to work together just like puzzle pieces. When each piece came together, it made the puzzle complete.” 

Saint-Vil has been a part of the team since her freshman year (2021-2022) and has continued to play for her remaining years in high school. While Dean and Pacheco said they “focused on strengthening the team’s commitment and dedication” as co-captains, Burgess said that Saint-Vil made sure that any practice and game the girls had was full of “spirit and vibes.” 

“She (Saint-Vil) was the one that can make literally everyone laugh,” Burgess said. “If we were having a bad game, she could always uplift everyone, make us feel better, and give us the right insights for our games. She has the ability to still be happy even when we’re losing a game.” 

Dean said she believes that since it was established in 2021, the girls basketball team has impacted and promoted girls sports at the school. The team has continued to recruit new players each year as each class of seniors graduated. They also got the chance to play against more schools as the team grew. 

“I think we definitely have a huge influence because of how good we are,” Dean said. “The fact that it (the girls basketball team) was just established four years ago and we’re here at this point and we’re doing so well definitely has helped promote girls sports in our school.” 

From their previous years, Dean said they have shown “growth and improvement” with their games by being able to play more schools and winning more games. In their 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons, the girls played nine games, while in the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons, they played 16. 

“I think what made our team so good is that we believed in ourselves,” Griffin said. “We believed in everybody on the team. We believed in what they could bring. We believed in what ‘Jaguars’ meant. We had a very firm definition of what that meant to us.”

For the girls’ 2024-2025 basketball season, the team ended with an overall 6-10 win-loss. As the season progressed, Pacheco noticed how the team dynamic evolved and impacted the team’s performance. 

“She (team member and communications sophomore Kaitlyn Maldonado) has a really good dynamic with Briana (Dean),” Pacheco said. “They play really well together, and they help me get open shots, so I think we’ve definitely gotten better.” 

On Jan. 30, the seniors on the team celebrated their victory against Royal Palm Beach Community High School, taking the win, 42-15. As the crowd on the bleachers jumped and screamed hearing the fourth-quarter buzzer, Pacheco, Dean, Burgess, Patel, and Saint-Vil celebrated their winning senior night. 

“It feels good that I can see our women’s sports team grow, and hopefully we’re not just known as an art(s) school, but (also) known that we (as girls) can play sports too,” Dean said.