Finish up soccer and swiftly move onto the basketball court.
That’s how Mercer Island High School senior Avery Conder rolls this season. The Islander kickers completed their season on a Thursday, and Conder was participating in hoops tryouts the following Monday. It’s how things go during shortened and back-to-back seasons during the pandemic.
The three-year varsity 5-foot-5 point guard/guard thought about tackling track season after basketball to complete an athletic trifecta, but she decided to give her body a break.
The Islanders will tip off their first game at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Interlake.
“Being able to play basketball with all the girls I’ve grown up playing select with, it’s just super fun,” said Conder, adding that since the season only lasts five weeks and eight games, players are fully in focus mode and enjoying themselves.
Getting back into a basketball groove has been a long time coming.
“I feel like we all took basketball a little bit for granted, and so everybody just wants to be out there and playing again,” said Conder, who is joined on the team by one other senior, Annabelle Gersch.
The Reporter asked Conder a series of questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her life:
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Work your hardest, even when no one’s watching.
If you could go to dinner with one person, who would that be?
I’m going to the University of North Carolina next year, so I feel like I would say Roy Williams. (She plans to play intramural sports at the Chapel Hill school.)
What’s your favorite class?
I really enjoy English. I like my electives, too, I really like art. I’m definitely more of a creative thinker, I like writing all the time.
Do you have a hidden talent that maybe somebody wouldn’t know about?
My friends know this about me, but whenever I hear a song, I can really quickly memorize the lyrics. They can play any song and I’ll know the words to it.
What’s a special skill that you would like to learn?
I really want to learn how to do photography well because my mom takes lots of photos and it seems like a valuable talent.
What kind of music do you listen to?
I listen to anything that’s in right now, but also I love 2000 pop music or rap music from that time, too. Just very happy songs.
What superpower would you like to have?
Definitely the ability to transport. I wouldn’t have to ever pay for a plane ticket and I also could always be on time to everything.
