PICTURE STORY: a team, a family

The usual story for high school basketball tends to focus on the same rituals: players shoot baskets, players win points, players win game and celebrate. But, over a few days with the North Calloway High School girls’ basketball team, it was clear the moments in between were just as special as the ones on the court. Many of the athletes had been playing on teams together nearly their whole lives and felt like family, and two players actually were. Madi, a senior, and Kenzie, a freshman navigated being big and litter sister on the court. Between practices and games, the girls

When I started this story, I thought it would be something else. I thought I was going to photograph team dynamics and players preparing for what could lead them to college careers. But what stood out to me instead was the obvious youthfulness of a lot of the frames. The writing on the foggy windows, the napping in bus seats, the joking around, the nervousness. This wasn’t just a story about basketball. It was a story about high school basketball. Before being athletes, these girls, above all else, are teenagers doing what the love and spending time with their friends.

Kyla Bertschinger shoots a free throw in the second half of a game against Mark Twain High School Center, Missouri, on Feb. 16, 2016. Bertschinger is a sophomore on the team, but has played on the varsity team since her freshman year and averages around 8 points-per-game.

Madison Ausfahl receives a hug from teammate Taylor Wilson right after the clock runs out and making North Callaway’s win official in Center, Missouri, on Feb. 16, 2016. The team battled neck-and-neck with Mark Twain in the first half and only finished it three points ahead. After a pep talk from their coach during halftime, the team found momentum and won with a final score of 54-47.

Sisters Skylar Schmauch and Reyna Schmauch take a nap in the hour and a half ride to Center, Missouri, on Feb. 16, 2016. The girls are the second sister pair playing on the varsity team along with the Ausfahl sisters. Skyler is a senior and Reyna is a sophomore.

After a neck-and-neck first half, freshman Mackenzie Ausfahl sits flanked by Skylar Schmauch and Taylor Wiseman as Coach Mathias Miller gives the team some stern words in Center, Missouri, on Feb. 16, 2016. Her sister, Madison, is a senior on the team and knows from experience that confidence is key. "I try to pick her back up and tell her to move on because as a freshman she doesn’t have a lot of confidence in herself,” she said.

Erin Bush and Madison Ausfahl, laugh as Taylor Wilson makes funny faces in a selfie app on her iPhone Feb. 16, 2016. The trip from Kingdom City, Missouri, to Center, Missouri, took nearly an hour and half, so the players used the time to joke around, listen to music or nap.

A player for the North Calloway High School Girls' Basketball team uses her finger to write, "Janneth stuffs her bra"on a foggy bus window on Feb. 16, 2016. The team was on the road to Center, Missouri, to play against Mark Twain High School After one player wrote jokes on a window, nearly all the players joined in.