York Dragonettes basketball player Raylee Werner said she wants to do all she can to make a difference, and as she concludes her senior season, that responsibility rests on her shoulders.
Werner said the bond between herself and her teammates has only grown stronger throughout her time in Jamestown, something she believes will be critical as they prepare for the regional playoffs.
“Our goal is winning,” Werner said. “But overall, our goal is to remain a family and we can’t do that unless everybody is together. Everybody helps everybody, that’s just how it is in Jamestown.”
York will look to return to the state championship in their first season without guard Reese Beaty, who is now playing college basketball at Iowa State. Werner said this season has helped the team mature.
“We got the hang of it and once we did, we really improved,” Werner said. “When she came back, you put her in the mix, a great player with some other great players, we got what we wanted to, just didn’t get the outcome, didn’t finish strong enough.”
With Beaty gone, Werner said she knows expectations from the outside may shift, but internally, the standard has not.
“We’re the leaders now, Reese [Beaty] is gone, we really have to step up and show what we can do,” Werner said. “Everybody’s like, oh they don’t have Reese anymore, but we’re still here, us four, we’re still good, we’ll be back.”
Werner said her focus is firmly on her final months in purple and gold: Leading, competing and making sure York basketball continues to feel like family. York will compete against Cannon County Monday night for a shot at a regional championship and potentially one final game for Werner and her fellow seniors in Jamestown.