![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
The varsity girls basketball team will advance to 5A Regional Semi-Finals after beating the Liberty Hill Panthers 42-37 at East View High School last night. This marks the first win for the team against Liberty Hill in the three times the teams have met up this season.
“[The win] feels so good,” senior guard Avery Allmer said. “We lost to them twice and now we finally won. This is the one that matters too, because now we get to move on in the playoffs which is so, so big for us.”
The T-Wolves will be returning to ther regional semis game for the third time in four years, two of those years including the back-to-back State Champion run in 2021 and 2022. Junior forward Hope Edwards put up a game-high 23 points, the most points a player has put up against the Panthers’ defense all year, as well as five rebounds and three steals. Edwards scored 17 of her 23 points in the first half alone.
“I, myself, stayed mentally tough and got my team ready,” Edwards said. “I did not allow them to drop their heads and just made sure they were staying positive throughout the whole process. We were able to pull off the win and everybody did a good job. I’m glad we were just able to come through and show up.”
After falling to Liberty Hill two times in the regular season, Allmer said the team prepared by running through their plays and practicing playing defense and offense against the team’s systems. Allmer also said the team learned they had to change the pace in order to be successful against the Panthers.
“We like to rush a lot, so just slowing down the pace of their game and being patient is what we learned and what worked tonight for us,” Allmer said. “We just repped it and repped it again and again and focused a lot on [their plays] in practice, and, you know, got the win.”
Sophomore guard Ahnna Breiner, who finished the game with six points and six boards, said the win meant a lot to the team, as they are now advancing to the fourth round after suffering a first round loss last season to Wagner High School.
“It feels really good being together, especially because we get to celebrate together,” Breiner said. “We all want the same thing for each other and this just feels so good.”
The team will play Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial High School Friday at 5:30 in San Antonio. If the team wins, they will advance to Regional Finals on Saturday where they have the chance to meet back up with dsitrict rival Glenn High School.
“I’m feeling so excited [to move on in the playoffs],” Allmer said. “I feel like this is a big moral boost because we’ve lost a lot of close games and I feel like this is just a really big win for us.”
