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By: Kate Harman
Sherri Retif knew how to put it.
“There’s a big sky with a lot of stars,” the Germantown Academy coach said, commenting on the balance of her girls’ basketball team. “And they are willing to share that night sky with each other - it’s so impressive.”
If you’ve seen Retif’s Patriots (23-1) play this season, you understand what she’s getting at.
You’ve got junior Harvard recruit, Elle Stauffer, who is, “jumping out of the gym on every play,” as someone recently remarked about her from the stands of a showcase event.
There is senior three-point shooter and George Mason commit, Rachel Balzer, as well as junior, Jaye Haynes, the team’s defensive Most Valuable Player and arguably the most consistent individual for the group a season ago.
And then there is Maddie Vizza.
She’s the one who holds it all together.
“Right, she’s the floor general,” Retif said. “She’s so smart out there with the ball. She can handle everything.
“She has such a high basketball IQ that I just have tremendous confidence in her,” the longtime coach added. “I’ll tell her to make the calls, whatever she is seeing she can call it and I will just assist her from the bench. She’s that smart. But she can handle, she can shoot - she’s got a complete game.”
A complete game you wouldn’t have seen if you happened to check out G.A. in a preseason match-up this past November at the University of the Sciences.
Why? Because Stauffer convinced the junior point guard to try water polo this year.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Vizza said. “But definitely worth it.
“It is similar to basketball, it is just basketball in the pool,” she added. “You move the ball around and look for the best shot as a team. I wouldn’t say I completely picked up on everything about the sport but it is a fun time and I had a great experience.”
What else has been a great experience? The current run the Patriots are on.
Vizza is averaging just under 10 points a game this season for G.A. - who is undefeated in Inter-Ac play - but she’s really come on of late, netting 19 points twice, as well as adding 18 and 13, during the last seven contests.
The Patriots have beaten all of their non-league in-state opponents, too, with their only loss coming to Miami Country Day, a team ranked fifth nationally.
“Everyone is playing to beat us,” Vizza said. “I think we just have to go out, play our game, not worry about who the opponent is - that’s really what we are focused on. We talk about expectations but we are just focused on getting better and doing what is the best interest of team.”
Vizza knows a little bit about that, having had to step up as a freshman after Cat Polisano went down on just the first day of practice.
“I honestly wasn’t sure how everything was going to work out,” she said of her first year with the school. “It is a really strong program and I knew Cat was their junior point guard, so I wasn’t 100-percent sure what my role was going to be.
“But, she got hurt and I was the next point guard up,” she added. “ I knew I had to learn from her and she was an amazing influence. When she was out, she was constantly giving me tips, seeing what I couldn’t see on the court. She was so supportive of me, really had my back.”
Retif called it, “baptism by fire.”
Vizza said it was what helped to break out of her shell and “find” her “voice” as a leader.
After missing over a month towards the end of her sophomore season with an ankle injury, Vizza and her voice are back in form for G.A.
And for a team with a lot of stars, how did Retif put it?
Having your point guard playing at such a high level must make it that much easier to share the night sky with.
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