The main goal for every team is to make it to state, and last year the girls basketball team not only made it to state but won it. However, following the success of last season adds a target on their back for this upcoming season.
“Well, we’re defending state champions, so everyone’s going to give us their best shot. I mean, we’re going to be like the Super Bowl for every team that we play, and we’ll kind of have that target on our back,” head coach Clay Carlton said.
Despite the added pressure, the team still wants to continue to improve their performance on the court.
“I think we just want to be successful. Coming off of two pretty successful seasons, you just want to continue and build off what you had. We want to make it back to state, but that’s always a goal that people want to have, just win a lot of games and have a lot of fun,” junior Mylee Tichota said.
One major challenge the team will face in their goals is having just 13 team members total, only 3 of which have significant varsity experience.
“This season, our goals will look really different than last year, just because our team has different personnel this year. For me, I don’t really know what to expect this season, but I’d say goals would be to work consistently the hardest we can in practice and in games. And even if we don’t win, be the hardest working team on the court,” lone senior Millie Dieckman said.
This year the team’s dynamic will affect their performance, though it will not stop them.
“[Last year’s team] was dominant from the start and throughout the entire season, whereas this year we might have some bumps in the road along the way and have to learn a little bit early on,” Carlton said. “And it might not look quite like it did last year, right off the bat, but I fully expect that by the end of the year, we’re going to look like a different team, and we’ll be a tough team to play.”
Part of what will fill the gaps in the team is an abundance of freshmen, which will come with its own challenges.
“We only have one senior this season, and we have 10 freshmen. So I feel like getting them in their groove and helping them adjust to high school basketball will be a little bit different,” junior Madison Wilson said.
To help them prepare for these challenges, the freshmen are lifting weights, getting in reps and building off-court connections.
“Jersey Siske and I would go into the gym a lot during off season and get shooting reps in and then we had optional conditioning. We also had games and open gyms that we did, along with weight lifting…now we’re just continuing to get in shape,” freshman Addi Jones said.
Practices currently consist of a lot of running and basic drills just trying to get back into the groove of the sport.
“I’ve been doing this 13 years, and I have a list of all the practice plans from previous years that we’ve done. And you change a few things out, but ultimately your practices are very similar from year to year,” Carlton said.
From the beginning of practice to the end of the season, the girls basketball team plans to put in their best effort to overcome their challenges and achieve their goals.
“We’ll have to be the hardest working team on the court, be the team that knows the game and overall be the team with [the] most heart, and all the rest will fall into place,” Dieckman said.
