Springdale girls basketball team’s progress pays off with victory to end long losing streak

By: Alec Italiano
Thursday, December 28, 2017 | 6:37 PM

John Broderick heard plenty of kudos from referees and fans about the improvement the Springdale girls basketball team showed during the early portion of the season.

As good as that made the Dynamos' coach feel, it had nothing on Wednesday night, when Springdale snapped a 24-game losing streak with a 47-28 victory over Yough in the consolation game of Valley's holiday tournament.

“The kids have worked hard,” Broderick said. “They worked hard last year, even though we didn't win any games. And we were getting some similar comments this year from officials and from spectators about how hard the girls were working, and that's great. That's really what you're looking for.

“But man, it's really nice to finally get a win, too. That working hard stuff is really super, but it's really nice to look up on the scoreboard and see you have more points than the other team.”

Springdale's last victory came in the 2015-16 regular-season finale against Northgate, a 52-23 win. The Dynamos went 0-17 last season and started this campaign with seven consecutive losses.

But signs of progress showed even before the win Wednesday. Springdale fields a roster of 12 players, a big jump from the seven or eight Broderick had at his disposal last season, when he had to do lunchtime recruiting after insufficient player numbers forced the Dynamos to forfeit games in the early portion of their schedule.

Junior Jazlynn Robb, a transfer from Texas, is leading Springdale in scoring and tallied 25 points against Yough. Becca Selzer, a key player from last season's team who recently rejoined the roster, added 15.

“Once you get more numbers, as a coaching staff it gives you more things you can try to do,” Broderick said. “Really, that's what we're starting to do. We're thankful for those numbers, and there's some pretty decent players in those numbers.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer.

Tags: Springdale