Julia Seiden

Three defenders try to stop senior point guard Hope Edwards before the ball leaves her hands. The girls basketball team faced Liberty Hill on Feb 21, losing 58-40. “[My season was] definitely bittersweet,” Edwards said. It’s definitely sad [because] I’m gonna miss all my teammates, my coaches and just the whole CP environment.”

The roar of the opponent’s student section replays itself several times over. Chant after chant, the words “Beat CP” seem to be engraved in the walls around. It all comes down to who can handle the ball better.

Liberty Hill came out victorious on Feb. 21 after they beat the girls basketball team 58-40 in the 2025 UIL Girls Basketball State Championships. The girls have faced Liberty Hill four times this season.

“We kind of knew what we were going in for, but then they also kind of threw us for a loop, ” junior small forward Hope Richardson said. “Being in such a point deficit [was hard], [and] still wanting to win and push ourselves and not give up was difficult.”

The team mostly consists of juniors and Richardson said they are hoping to prepare and work harder to make it to the state championship.

“Us juniors, we’re going to have to step up and be leaders and fill the leadership role left by seniors,” Richardson said. “[We] just [need to] work really hard and work on our team chemistry and on just all of our skills to get better for next year.”

Senior point guard Hope Edwards scored 13 of the 40 points and turned the ball over four times. She said ending the season early was a letdown this year, but she believes the players next year will be able to make it far.

“[My season was] definitely bittersweet,” Edwards said. It’s definitely sad [because] I’m gonna miss all my teammates, my coaches and just the whole CP environment.”

Head coach Kami Williamson said the girls miscommunicated, which allowed Liberty Hill to shoot 40-50% of the time and maintain a lead in the second half of the game.

“We need to give ourselves a little time off and take a little bit of a break,” Coach K said. “Then again, [we need to] just go back and get down to our culture and the things that we’re known for and work on some skill development and then give it a go next season.”

Junior guard Mya Pfaffe said the girls were disheartened by the noise and size of the Liberty Hill student section. With the game being held in Georgetown, Liberty Hill students were more encouraged to attend.

“They had a student section that was really, really loud, and it was a very intense environment,” Pfaffe said. “I just tried to tell my team to not pay attention to the crowd and to make sure they didn’t get in their own head because everyone knows that once you’re in your head, it’s hard to keep going.”

Even when Liberty Hill started getting ahead in points, Coach K said that the girls stayed motivated.

“We kept on telling each other like, ‘We can keep on going, we’re down by only so many points,’ and kept on building off of each other’s energy,” junior guard Jayla Green said.
”Whenever some people were down, [we’d say], ‘You got it, go play by next play and keep that next play mentality.’ Our biggest challenge was ourselves. We were very nervous and we just kind of got in our heads and whenever we get in our heads, we play as individuals instead of as a team.”

During practice, the team coordinated player assignments, defense strategies, and went over play-by-plays. On top of that, the team also worked on improving their team building and chemistry.

“I think they exposed some of the things that we didn’t do well,” Coach K said. “I felt like we had a really good season. It was a little shorter than what we had hoped, we’d hoped we could punch our ticket again to the state tournament, but I felt like we had a really good year. To be able to finish as one of the top eight teams in the state, the regional finals is definitely something that we should be proud about and excited about.”