Going into the weekend, the varsity girl’s basketball team holds a record of 12-6. Tomorrow, at 3 p.m., the girls will play a home game against Lincoln High who have a record of 4-15 and are ranked 26th in Class A.
After their game against the Links, the girls only have three more games until Sub-Districts, and if they play well, they have a shot to compete in the NSAA Girls State Championships tournament from Feb. 29 to March 2.
As the regular season comes to a close the players and coaches start focusing more on making it to the State tournament. Sub-Districts start Feb. 19 and District finals will take place on Feb. 24. Having caused upsets against Waverly (58-48), and Omaha Central (46-37) already this season, the team knows they are capable of competing at a high level.
“We’ve had a couple of big wins,” head coach Wade Coulter said. “Waverly and Omaha Central, they’re both top-five teams and we beat them both on our home court. Being new to varsity basketball and new to success, we’re a top-five team right [in Class B] now. Nobody thought that would happen this season.”
According to the NSAA, the girls are ranked fourth in Class B for point standings despite playing against Class A schools most of the season. The team has practiced together since the summer and now they are ready to finish out their season strong.
“I think that we have really handled those moments well and now that gives them a chance to really believe and see,” Coulter said. “We don’t walk out on the court hoping to win, we walk out expecting to win.”
Even though the girls are ranked higher than Lincoln High, they are preparing for the game as if they weren’t.
“We take it week by week and game by game,” sophomore forward Heather Wadsworth said. “When we have back-to-back games, the practices before that, we talk about both teams. When we have practice in between [games], we will practice based on how we know the other team plays.”
Regardless of how the game goes tomorrow, the girls plan to use the experience to learn and grow. “We learn from our losses and we move on. We try not to let it affect us,” junior forward Sonora Defini said.
That mentality isn’t just held by Defini, but by the whole team.
“None of us like to lose; we’re all really big competitors,” Wadsworth said. “I think one of our strong suits is when we lose we’re able to come back together the next day. The next day we work together as a team and move on.”
