From playing together on their third-grade basketball team to starting varsity as freshmen on the high school team, the sophomore girls are ready for this year’s basketball season. 

“I’m really excited for the upcoming season because a lot of us last year were super young,” said sophomore Maycee Hays. “And now that we’ve gained the experience of going through the high school season and having summer ball, I think that’ll make us a lot better than we were last year.”

Sophomore Maura Tichota is also excited to bring last year’s experience back onto the court.

“I gained a lot of strength and confidence coming into this year already from last year,” said Tichota. “I already know what to expect.”

On top of the experience gained from last year, this summer the team is ready to use their experience to start off the season strong. With last year’s four freshmen starters back on the court for their sophomore season, the team is back and better than ever. This summer, the basketball team put in extra time in the weight room and on the courts, which they are hoping will pay off. 

“The summer was awesome. They spent a lot of time in the gym: getting shots, working on skills; and then we played some pretty tough competition in our summer league,” said head coach Clay Carlton. “I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do this year.”

With the success of summer, the team has one main goal, which is getting better each time the athletes step on the court. With this main goal, they hope it will lead to a bigger goal: state. 

“My goal is to become a better player,” said sophomore Ellie Lloyd. “Our team goal is to make it to state or at least a district championship.” 

To achieve their goal of making it to state, the team needs to challenge themselves and be determined. 

“I think it just comes down to getting people in the gym and pushing the girls,” said sophomore Haley Kube. “I know that they’re determined and I know that they can work hard; they just need the person to push them.