Senior spotlight: Chester hoop girls

One is coming off of an exciting junior year, the other a devastating wrist injury. But both Jessica Laino and Kristin Jung are ready for their senior year of basketball for Chester Academy, despite the disparate trips they took to get there. “I never really played basketball until the seventh grade,” Laino said. “I was on modified from 7 and 8, and then on JV in 9 and I have been on varsity ever since.” “I started playing basketball in the fifth grade at another school. I didn’t play at all last year. I broke my wrist two years ago,” Jung said. “So I took a season off to concentrate on healing. So I am back this year as a senior and I am so excited about this.” The wrist injury happened while playing in the middle of season two years ago. “I took a charge and fell wrong on my arm,” Jung said. “I went through physical therapy and kept working at it because I wanted to come back so badly.” Both seniors see their last year as a special one. “I definitely take it more seriously this year than last year because it is my last year,” Laino said. “I would like to get further this year because I don’t plan on playing in college.” “It is a little nerve-wracking being one of the oldest and not playing in a game for a year and a half,” Jung said. “But our new coach is great. He is very dedicated and he knows how to work with us really well. He pushes us hard but he knows are strengths and weaknesses and things like that. Which is great for us.” New head coach Eric Sosler is high on the girls list of positives for this winter. “He was the JV coach last year. We’ve been doing a lot of different drills during practice this year. We’ve been building on different skills,” Laino said. “We are hoping that makes us better. We won’t know until we play some games.” The girls are already working hard to fill the holes left by graduation. “We have a few returners, and I feel we are going to have a good season,” Jung said. “We are working hard at practice and I think it is going to pay off.” “Last year we had a lot of seniors last year and they left. Last year there was a lot of drama, but this year we get along pretty well,” Laino said. “We work hard and everyone gets along. We take practice serious, but we joke around too. It is pretty fun.” When it comes to setting goals, both girls have similar thoughts. “Personally, I just love to play. And I just want to play as hard as I can,” Jung said. “And for the team, I want to go farther in the sectionals.” “I would like to get to sections. Whether we win or not I don’t care,” Laino said. “For the team I just hope that we all have a fun season and do what we have to do to win. And if we don’t win, then I hope we have fun.”