Sneakers squeak on the court, hoops swish, blood pumps, and the girls basketball team wins another game. For the first time in Lebanon Trail history, one of our basketball teams has made it to the playoffs. The team has had a very successful season, placing third in the district, with an overall ranking of 22-11. Achieving many wins against rival schools in the district including Centennial and Liberty, these girls are making their way to the top of the ranks.

“I am really proud of everything that the girls have accomplished and it’s really exciting to watch them play,” Girls Basketball Head Coach Kim Clarke said,” they are wonderful people on and off the court, and so it’s a really good feeling to see all their hard work pay off.”

As the team underwent staff changes the past school year, Coach Clarke was given the opportunity to change coaching styles, and lead her girls to victory. Though, triumph doesn’t come without persistence and dedication. The team has been preparing for this season since last year.

“This is my first year as head coach, and so last year I was the varsity assistant. If you ask any of the players, our preseason was tough. They did a lot of conditioning and we did it outside of the school day so that we could use our first-period athletics time to be on the basketball court. I think that helped us a lot in just developing our overall athleticism.”

Despite serious training, sports are supposed to be fun for the players. The team has a before-game tradition that pumps them up and keeps them wanting to play. “The girls have a tradition for every home game and as many away games as humanly possible, during the third period of the game before them, they find the smallest, darkest, most secluded space. When we’re at home it’s our storage closet,” said Clarke, “When we’re on the road they’ll pick a locker room, a closet that’s open, a cabinet, and they just blast music and dance around and just get super hype.”

Additionally, this season was very different from previous years. The district is smaller, and all teams have had more breaks than usual.

“I think we really got really lucky with that winter storm and getting four days off. Overall, to help them not feel burnt out, we try and vary what we do and how we do it,” said Clarke. “We have bi-weeks this year as well. And so if we have a bi-week, we try to have a lighter morning, we’ll take them to breakfast, just something to break up the monotony of the season.”

Ultimately, what really leads these girls to achieve success is their bond and their relationships with one another. A deeper connection with one another can do so much for a team, and it shows.