Girls BBall preps for District

On+Dec.+12%2C+junior+point+guard+Jazzmine+Thorpe+dribbles+the+ball+during+the+girls%E2%80%99+varsity+basketball+game+against+the+Westwood+Warriors.+The+Lady+Timberwolves+lost+by+15+points+but+the+Timberwolves+are+looking+forward+to+playing+the+rest+of+the+season%E2%80%99s+games.+%E2%80%9CWestwood+wasn%E2%80%99t+easy%2C%E2%80%9D+Thorpe+said.+%E2%80%9CIt+wasn%E2%80%99t+an+easy+win+for+them+either%2C+it+was+hard+on+both+teams.+Even+though+I%E2%80%99m+disappointed%2C+I%E2%80%99m+really+looking+forward+to+the+Georgetown+game.+It%E2%80%99s+our+chance+at+redemption+and+I%E2%80%99m+looking+forward+to+beating+them.%E2%80%9D

Alina Tang

On Dec. 12, junior point guard Jazzmine Thorpe dribbles the ball during the girls’ varsity basketball game against the Westwood Warriors. The Lady Timberwolves lost by 15 points but the Timberwolves are looking forward to playing the rest of the season’s games. “Westwood wasn’t easy,” Thorpe said. “It wasn’t an easy win for them either, it was hard on both teams. Even though I’m disappointed, I’m really looking forward to the Georgetown game. It’s our chance at redemption and I’m looking forward to beating them.”

Janet Nava, Reporter

As the balls bounce, the Girls Varsity and JV basketball teams prepare for the upcoming District games. The most recent games resulted in both the JV and Varsity teams winning against Marble Falls on Friday Jan. 16. The varsity’s current record is 9-15. Varsity’s point guard, junior Jennifer Stallings wishes to make it to playoffs this year.

“It’s too soon to tell,” Stallings said. “I think that we can at least make it to the third round of playoffs like we did last year, but anything can happen from now until then.”

The varsity’s overall strategy for District includes intense two hour practices all week, excluding game days. During the practices, the team works on fixing the problems they faced from the previous games, and improve on the basics, like free throws. Other than the hard practices, the team studies up on the opposing team’s plays throughout the week leading up to the game. Varsity and JV practice together in order to work on their fundamentals and make sure everybody knows the plays. Both of the team’s biggest opponents are Georgetown and Vista Ridge, according to varsity guard junior LeeAnn Stephens.

“They are very disciplined and execute their plays very well,” Stephens said. “They’re also very aggressive and know how to get plays done the way they want to exactly.”

Stephens is not the only one on varsity thinking about these teams. Stallings also finds that the Georgetown and Vista Ridge basketball teams are skilled.

“Vista Ridge has a lot of talented players and are really fast,” Stallings said. “They’re very difficult to defend while Georgetown is extremely disciplined. They execute everything they do almost perfectly. They are both very good teams and really tough to beat when played.”

This feeling is mutual amongst the JV team as well. The JV’s biggest challenge as a team is focusing on individual opponents and not worrying about what the other teams are doing, but the team try to focus on. Sophomore JV point guard Aubrey McCarty thinks the team’s strength will outweigh those of the other teams.

“Our offense is very strong; we can all shoot really well,” McCarty said. “Our starting #5 Shannon Hazard is very aggressive and takes it to the hoop a lot. Everybody contributes to the team and you’ll never see us just standing around when we run a play. We execute it really well.”

The varsity’s focus is now on the strengths instead of weaknesses, despite their challenges of making quick decisions as told from Stephens. Stallings feels that the varsity’s season has progressed well this year.

“Our season has really progressed; our greatest strength has become our teamwork,” Stallings said. “We’ve gotten really good at finding open players on the court and setting them up for a play, whether it’s setting up a shooter on the three point line or dishing it in to a post on the block, we work really well as a team.”