March 16, 2016 - Bronx, NY

College Basketball by Alexi Cortez


Has the transition from high school basketball to college basketball seemed so easy that you take all your confidence and let out the words, "Yeah I got this, it's no big deal." Well for me I thought it was a piece of cake; I really got a wakeup call. From conditioning, to loosing championships, to even gaining a family, I would have to say playing basketball was worth 6 months of my life. 

Here is a little background story of my athletic life. Throughout my four years of high school I've rotated every season playing volleyball, basketball, and softball. I graduated and came to Bronx Community College. The beginning of my Freshman year of college I had a mindset of doing what I have to do and getting out. I also was crossfitting at the time, so it thought I was in perfect shape. The second term of my freshman year comes along and I decided that I needed a change, and that change was women's basketball. 

It was a year or so since I have touched a basketball, so pre-season conditioning was brutal. Note to self don't eat a bacon egg and cheese before running for three hours straight!  At the time cardio was not my friend, and the only friend I had was me for a couple of weeks.  Everyone knew each other from what will soon be the Bronx Community College Lady Broncos. I would have to say that it was challenge because I was in a gym with a bunch of girls that were already ten steps ahead of me with conditioning and a higher basketball IQ than me. So I had to work hard to fit in. 

October was just like September, getting into the mix of things, finally learning names, and my cardio was improving. Then November had officially started and we scrimmaged some D2 teams, getting a taste to what it is like playing college basketball.  We went on a losing streak and then ended up winning back to back to back games. I remember before the year was over, we swept the last team we played by thirty points.  As a team we grew and with the ups and downs, with in the time we started conditioning and the time we ended 2015, we girls became a close family.   

If you thought high school basketball was competitive, well think again!  Everyone is fighting to be on top, no one wants to be on the bottom. That was the eye opener to me when January had started.  We conditioned for weeks on end not letting one day slip through our fingers. When games came around we slowly one by one were eliminating teams off the boards to get to the CUNY Championships.  

It was not easy I tell you that but as a team we were focused, played hard, and were not even out of breath in the fourth quarter.  Playing our last home game determining whether we went to Semi Finals and of course we won, but it was not the last time we were going to see our CUNY opponents. 

The NJCAA Region XV Semi Finals came along and we were close to losing to the CUNY Champions, until the other team gave us the lead in the fourth quarter, and we ended coming out with a win. It was a good day and the pressure off our chest for a bit, because we knew we were going to go against the ultimate battle in the championships. Film, strategic plays, and had core conditioning was drilled into us the week before Championships. It was like going into war.  

Championship Days came but it didn't end with a victory. The loss still stings until this day because I know we are the better team in our whole Conference, we just did not play like it. We also ended up going to Regional Championships, but lost that one too. 

The season came to end, but it did not come crashing down. Yes it does sting; we lost, but can the Lady Broncos take the Championship next year?  Yes, yes the can! As a person with somewhat experience of basketball to a better understanding, I would have to say my IQ had gone up.  I had gained a second family and I have never seen a coach put his whole life on hold for a couple of months for a group of girls.  Our Coach, Coach Pete, is what really made the foundation to start this team.  Coach Pete made not just me, but the whole team better basketball players.  I am proud to wear his saying, "Effort and Finish," on my warmup shirt. It took the team effort to make it to both championships and we finished bigger and better than when we started.   I am looking forward to my next educational experience.