The Lady Jays basketball team is dribbling into the new year. With a new coach and new aspirations, they are reaching towards a successful season. With an 11-3 record at press time, they are hoping to make it to the State competition.

   “Our goal is the same as it is for every season,” assistant coach Zach Werner said. “We want to win our conference, win our district, and advance in the playoffs as far as we can.”

   With this in mind, the Lady Jays are working hard every day after school practicing by going over plays and making sure they are focused.

  “If we have three days before a game, the first day we spend working on skills,” senior shooting guard Kayel Newland said. “The second day we go over things we need to work on to get better as a team and the third day we get ready for the next team we play.”

   The determination to win has brought the girls some pretty big accomplishments so far, from being named Hyvee’s team of the week to getting first place at the Holiday Hoops Classic at Rockwood Summit High School in St. Louis in December.

   “My favorite part of being on the team is having a role to play and having girls who respect you and will stick with you,” freshman post Aryonna-Haley Straws said. “It’s like a family.”   

   With tons of team bonding events, the girls have had some memorable moments on and off the court.

   “During one of the first games the bench started doing this Chinese fire dance and some other crazy dances cheering for us and that was pretty funny,” sophomore point guard Olivia Nelson said.

  All good things come with challenges. This year the Lady Jays basketball team is being led by a new coach, Chad Fleming.

   “It’s different and our practices look different. Everyone is pushing themselves to work harder with this new system,” Newland said.

   They hope their work will pay off. The season isn’t over and they still have a long way to go. The upcoming weeks hold some big games, including the cross town rivals, Liberty North, on January 26 in the Liberty North High School Field House and February 9 at home.

   “I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can go as a team,” junior point guard Maddie Davolt said. “I think we can go super far, maybe even go to State.”