Girls’ basketball coach Marie Miller watched as the lineup dominated by sophomores and juniors took the court. 

Prospect is 11-11 as of Feb. 2. This young team has shown some hope for the future in the sense that they are getting a lot of reps. However, many of these girls have had an interesting backstory of how they got to this point.

As junior Eliot Dojutrek was being taken back and forth between her brother’s basketball games, having to watch every weekend, something clicked. She fell in love with the game, wanting to be the next person that her family goes to watch. 

“After the first practice, when I was five, I was hooked,” Dojutrek said. “I’ve been playing basketball ever since.”

With basketball running through the family, sophomore Andie Will has done her best to step up and compete on a varsity level. She has played basketball since she was a little kid. Her sisters currently play college basketball at Brown University and NewYork University, and Will looks to follow in their footsteps and play in college.

Senior Jo Neuhalfen also started playing basketball when she was really young. She has always loved the sport, and she has fought all the way up to varsity since joining her freshman year.

Both Dojutrek and Nuehafen have known Miller for at least two years. For both players, Miller has impacted them greatly.

“Miller has really helped me develop as a player,” Neuhafen said. “She has been very supportive of me throughout the years and continues to motivate me to be the best I can be.”

Dojutrek has also felt the same presence of Miller that Nuehafen feels.

“Miller has encouraged me to be more confident from day one,” Dojutrek said. 

Dojutrek started playing basketball for the Prospect girls basketball program when she joined the feeder team in fifth grade. Dojutrek also met most of her friends there that she still plays with today. 

Throughout her freshman year, Dojutrek learned how hard it would be to play at a higher level as she battled through JV.

“My sophomore year, I was moved up to varsity where I became the sixth man on the team. At first, it was a bit of an adjustment, but I embraced my role and provided our team [with] a spark off the bench,” Dojutrek said. 

Now, as a junior, Dojutrek looks back at her journey through all of this and thinks about how fun this journey has been.

“I remember [being] in fifth grade [and] watching the girls’ varsity team play; I was absolutely amazed. I looked up to them so much. Now that I’m in their shoes, it’s really just an amazing experience,” Dojutrek said.