Sports
Gimme 5: Marian Catholic's Ferry Enjoying a Bit of Role Reversal
Spartan girls basketball standout helps at the same summer camp she attended when she was a youngster.
Marian Catholic girls basketball player Alanna Ferry has come full circle.
The soon-to-be senior is spending part of her summer helping younger kids improve their skills at the Spartan basketball camp. A few year back, Ferry, a Chicago Heights native, was the one attending camps. Her goal was to learn and improve her skills.
“It’s fun. I like helping the little kids,” Ferry said. “I want to help the kids get better and teach them what we are all about and the work ethic that you need.”
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Ferry has learned all of those things and more as she has grown to become an integral part of the Marian program, including being a starter on last year’s sectional championship team.
She and her fellow teammates continue to dominant the area, posting 25-plus win season’s year-in and year-out, but they also continue to fall to Chicago power Whitney Young in the supersectionals.
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“It was very frustrating,” Ferry said of last season's 22-point playoff loss to the Dolphins. “I thought last year was our year for sure, but we just couldn’t pull through.”
It was the third consecutive year the Spartans have ended their season with a loss to the Dolphins. Ferry and her fellow Spartans want to end that streak as much as they want to continue to improve this summer.
“I want to work hard so we can to prepare for the season,” Ferry said. “We want to maintain our elite status as the best team around.”
The Spartans are competing in summer leagues this summer at both Shepard High School and Montini High School.
“We are always together, so it is like we are a family,” Ferry said.
Outside of basketball Ferry hopes to go to the beach and hang out with her family this summer. Rap is her favorite type of music. Dirk Nowitzki is her favorite basketball player, and gym class is the subject she enjoys the most in school.
Ferry hopes to enjoy the summer before focusing on her senior year, the basketball season and what she might want to do after high school.
“There are some small schools in the city looking at me, but I am keeping my options open right now.”
