By Emma Helmick

The Lady Lions go onto the court with one thing on their minds: playoffs.

“I am really happy with this year’s team,” Girls’ Basketball Coach Rick Klimchock said. “We are very engaged in what we do each day. We have great leadership and an outstanding culture. I appreciate our staff and all of our players.”

The players practice using many drills. Cycles is a drill to help them with game like scenarios and determine their positions in the game.

“I think we are able to make it far and I think we all desperately want it to be a good season,” junior Ashlan Price said. “Every game is hard, but we all push through to make it through the game, win or lose.”

The girls are currently on a losing streak, but they still have time left in the season to make a difference.

“The varsity team is good,” Price said. “We have a lot to work on, but we all want to be better. We all look to improve our game individually and as a team.”

With each game all kinds of different strategies can be used. The players need to be prepared for anything to happen on the court.

“The JV girls are very willing to learn from the varsity, they always play hard against us in practice and work hard in their games,” she said.

The JV team can use the examples that they are learning from the Varsity players to improve their skills and push themselves further in the future.

“My expectation for the end of the season is to make it further than we did last year,” sophomore Blessing Gantt said. “JV had a tough year last year. Varsity secured a playoff spot when we beat Gateway at home, but our first playoff game was really tough because we were scheduled to play South Fayette who went on to win it all. I believe we can make it further this year.”

Last year the team was in a 5A section and played against teams such as McKeesport, Woodland Hills and Latrobe. This year they dropped down to 4A, but still play against many tough teams.

“Our culture on the team is strong and Coach makes sure to tell us that every day,” Gantt said.

The players have spent months practicing together to build strong connections and friendships with each other.

“One thing we never do is quit,” Price said. “Whether we are winning or losing, we always keep our chin up and play our hardest until the last whistle. We can take pride in that.”