Back home in Spain, Sonia Fernandez-Martin never played so much basketball.
"We don't take it so serious. We just practice two hours a week and we play once a week," said Fernandez-Martin, who played at school in Madrid.
At Glenelg Country School, Fernandez-Martin has learned to take basketball a little more seriously.
She and three other European exchange students, Elena Diaz-Martin and Alva Sueras-Fanjul from Spain and Veronika Kojzarova from the Czech Republic, have helped boost the Dragons to the regular-season championship of the Association of Independent Schools B Division.
Fernandez-Martin is the only starter among the four, but without all of them, the Dragons would be in trouble. There would be only eight girls on the roster and they certainly would not have a 12-4 record.
Coming into the season, senior co-captains Robin Zimmerly and Allison Hoke worried that the Dragons could not improve on last season's 5-7 record. Now, they are heavily favored to win the AIS B Division tournament title and will play host to a semifinal game Thursday afternoon.
"These girls have a dedication that not everybody on our team has always had," said Zimmerly. "Allison and I really didn't know if anybody else wanted to go to the championship, but these girls really want to take it there and they're all excited about it."
Fernandez-Martin, 16, brings eight years of experience to the Dragons. Although only 5-foot-5, she is a top rebounder and is third on the team in scoring with 7.8 points a game.
Coach Barbara Brummett said Fernandez-Martin has joined Zimmerly and Hoke as a team leader.
"Sonia's actually brought a lot to this team," said Brummett. "In some places where we needed some work, she has it -- like rebounding and more of a scrappy, hustling kind of defense that I couldn't give to the girls. The rest of the girls have kind of picked up on it from watching her."
Diaz-Martin is usually the first one off the bench.
Although the exchange students said they fit in with their teammates pretty quickly, the language barrier did pose a few problems at first. Each has a solid command of English, but understanding basketball terminology was another story.
XTC "We have difficulty with the language first of all," said Diaz-Martin, 15. "It is so different here, but people try to help you."
Having three girls who speak Spanish helps Brummett, because she only has to get her point across to one.
"They help each other," said Brummett. "Sometimes out on the court I have to ask Sonia to explain to Elena in Spanish what I'm trying to communicate to her. Sometimes they look at me like, 'What are you talking about?' But it is easier because only one has to get it and she can explain it to the other two."
Kojzarova, 15, sometimes has a little more trouble, not only because of the language but because she is new to the sport.
"I wanted to try something new, because I didn't play sports before too much. It is a lot [of work], but it is fun," said Kojzarova, who also played on the Dragons tennis team last fall.
But basketball is not all business for this melting pot team.
"They bring out the free spirit in people on our team," said Brummett. "They like having fun. Sometimes I have to calm them down on the bench, but they have a lot of fun and they like to laugh and sometimes you need that."
Strong friendships have developed between the exchange students and their hosts. Zimmerly plans to visit Spain and she hopes to spend a year abroad in college.
"If there is some chance I could play on a team, I'd definitely go ahead and do it," said Zimmerly. "I think that's how the friendships formed. They're closer to their teammates. Just seeing how happy they are, [playing sports is] something I think they'll remember most from being here."