This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
01/19/2022 11:00 PMAfter watching her older sister Jill score 1,000 points with the North Haven girls’ basketball team, Livi Johnson wanted to follow in her sibling’s footsteps. Now, as a junior at North Haven, Livi is making a name for herself as both a varsity starter and a captain with the Nighthawks.
Livi started playing basketball in North Haven’s recreational league in 1st grade. She remembers watching Jill play and wanting to emulate her. Jill graduated from North Haven in 2015. Livi admired Jill’s skill set and works hard to duplicate those skills whenever she’s on the court.
“My older sister Jill was a really big part of North Haven basketball. She scored over 1,000 points. I’ve always been really passionate about it as I watched her growing up,” says Livi. “How I play today is from how I looked up to her and liked her style. She drove to the basket and had really nice moves. I’ve been practicing those a lot.”
Livi continued playing in the rec league and then joined North Haven’s travel team in 5th grade. She also joined Team Connecticut on the AAU circuit in as a 6th-grader. At every stop, Livi’s passion for the sport grew that much stronger.
“Between playing and going to my sister’s games, I just really loved the game of basketball,” Livi says. “I love watching games or even just talking about it. It really helps me grow as a player and a person.”
Livi joined the North Haven girls’ basketball team as a freshman and competed for the JV squad in her first two seasons. During this time, Livi felt like she had to prove that she belonged on the varsity roster. Following Livi’s sophomore season, North Haven’s coaches told her that her junior year would be her time to shine. So, Livi and younger sister Ava, a sophomore, put in the work to prepare for life in the varsity ranks.
“I just had to prove myself. It was much different than middle school. The game is much faster,” Livi says. “Last year, right after the season, they told me that junior year would be the year I can blossom as a player. I really worked hard with my sister. We pushed each other to try our best. Hard work really did pay off. It has reflected in how our season is going on.”
Livi made the jump to varsity as a junior this year and entered the season as North Haven’s starting point guard. While point guard is still her natural position, Livi has had to move up and down the lineup due to season-ending injuries to Ava and junior teammate Julia Ball. Livi has taken the positional changes in stride and is now working on being just as much of a scorer as she is a facilitator.
“With my AAU team, I played more of the two [shooting guard]. I drive in and try to shoot more,” says Livi. “At the beginning of the season, I had a lot more assists, I was looking for other girls. Now, I’m really focusing on driving to the basket and shooting. If they’re guarding me, I want to find ways to take advantage of it. I’m working on driving to the basket, getting fouled, and then making the shot.”
Head Coach Tom Blake saw how hard Livi worked as she made the leap to the varsity stage. Blake says that the junior is playing more of a cerebral game and has developed nicely as both a scorer and a passer.
“Livi is learning how defenses are playing her and how to take advantage of it. She is also drawing a lot of defensive attention, which is allowing her to find open teammates,” Blake says. “Livi also works very hard at practice and leads by example, which is great when 9 of our 12 players are freshmen and sophomores.”
Livi admits that she wasn’t too confident on either offense or defense in her freshman year. Now, Livi trusts her intuition and feels comfortable every time she steps on the floor. Livi also feels that she’s improved at communicating with her teammates and helping them out in any way possible. This type of growth helped Livi earn the role of team captain alongside fellow junior Talia Annunziato for this season.
“It’s really nice to be captain. I like being someone they can look up to,” says Livi. “We’re a younger team. We’re very close and have great chemistry. We don’t have any seniors. Being a junior captain is a nice role. Being a point guard, you have to be a leader.”
As she continues through the Nighthawks’ program, Livi’s goals are to not only help North Haven win more games, but to try and help every player on the team grow each day. Livi loves everything about basketball and enjoys sharing her passion for the game with her teammates, much like her family did for her.
“I really love the game of basketball. I really love playing with all the girls. Everyone is super supportive. It’s really fun playing,” Livi says. “Playing with your friends is really good. We’ve made nice memories. It will be nice to look back some day. Basketball has been really big in my family.”