Women face key tests in second half of season

The women’s basketball team is in the middle of their season with a 7-3 record and 11 games left in the regular season. 

The Tigers have a lot of tough games ahead of them but are ready to work their way to try to make it to State this year. 

Senior Lexie Godfrey said, “We have a tough schedule these next couple of months, so we’re preparing as best we can. Our obvious goal is to make it to State in March, but we are focusing on each game individually and taking it day by day to improve until then.”

For the rest of the season, the team plans on working on setting the tone of the game and keeping the energy up during the game 

Senior Emerson Green said, “We talk a lot about maintaining high energy throughout the whole game. This will help us when games get close in the fourth quarter.”

The team does face some challenges coming up soon in their season, which will show them how much they want to win. 

Junior Anaya Barney said, “No game is going to be easy, and we know that going in, we just have to make sure we are prepared to play our best every time we step on the court.” 

Godfrey agreed with Barney. On Jan. 17, the Tigers play Cedar Rapids Xavier, who they beat before break. “We also play Iowa City High at home, who had been ranked No. 1 in the state the majority of the season and who is going to be tough to beat,” Godfrey said. 

This year the girls team also consists of many younger players with only two seniors and two juniors on the team and the rest being sophomores. 

“The best thing about coaching a young team is watching the growth of the players from game to game. From week to week, we can see the players get more comfortable and confident in their playing ability. It is also fun to watch the older girls mentor and lead these younger athletes, helping them reach their full potential,” coach Gregg Groen said. 

Barney agreed with her coach. “All of the younger girls have really stepped up and realized that they have a big role on our team this year. Everyone meshes really well together no matter what grade, and it has been a really fun year.”

The girls play next at 7:30 p.m. against Iowa City West on Jan. 10.

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