The girls basketball team will play its last district game against Marcus in the arena at 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 6. This will be the determining game on whether the team obtains a perfect record over the whole district season.
“When we play at an inter school or inter district opponent, we throw away all records because we know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” head coach Lisa Branch said. “It’s going to be the same with Marcus — we’re going to get their best shot. They have improved as a team since last year, so they’re good. We’re not overlooking them by any means. We prepare the same as we do against all of our opponents, we’re going to look at their tendencies and things they like to do [to] be prepared.”
The team has a perfect record going into their final district game. Last year, the Lady Hawks’ perfect record was taken away in one of the last district games by Flower Mound, where they lost 60-58.
”We messed up [our perfect record] last year,” guard Micah Cooper said. “We’re really focused on [making] sure we stay locked in and do what we’re supposed to do so we can get it done.”
Currently, the team has three players out with injuries. Backup guard Nariah Johnson has a concussion, guard Nehemiah Walker has an ankle injury and backup guard Brooke Thomas has a knee injury.
“I think we’re holding par right now, as far as where we want to be,” Branch said. “We’re just trying to get through this injury and sickness bug. That’s the most stressful [thing] right now that we’re dealing with — that’s going to test our depth. But I’ve got a couple of JV kids I’ll be moving up for the playoffs, [so] we’ll see what happens.”
The team has already played Marcus in a district game this season and won 76-51. Center Jordan Thomas said that she knows the team can beat Marcus, but the perfect record is motivating her.
“[Marcus] really doesn’t [affect our preparation], we [are] always here for the challenge,” Thomas said. “[The anticipation] doesn’t phase us, [and] I feel like that helps us play harder and know that we have chips on our shoulders.”
Branch has a list of team goals for the team every season, with one being to go undefeated in districts. Branch said the only thing standing in the way of that is their game against Marcus, and the team is focused.
“The thing that’s really stood out [in recent games] is our assists,” Branch said. “We’re averaging over 10 assists per game [as a team], which means we’re really sharing the ball, and that’s exciting. We know about scoring, but who’s passing that ball, who’s making an extra pass to make sure that they’re successful and their teammate is successful.”
In recent years, the team has been on an uphill trend since 2021, with the team going from averaging being fourth in the district to being first in the last two years. With the district season coming to an end, this will be some of the final games for top performing players such as guard Paris Bradley, Thomas and Cooper to play in high school. Cooper said she wants to finish the season strong and not have any regrets.
“We’re all very locked in,” Cooper said. “We don’t really pay too much attention to [the record or] how many games we won. We just focus on the next win and [staying] locked in. We don’t try to [focus] on the highs and lows, [but] just trying to stay consistent.”
