The girls basketball team will play Guyer tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Denton High School for the first round of the playoffs. 

“The season has gone well and the further we’ve gone into the season, the better we have been,” senior forward Camille Thomas said. “I think we still haven’t reached our full potential, but when we do it’ll be scary.”

The team finished the regular season with an overall record of 16-7 and a district record of 9-5. They ended the regular season with a three game win streak. Head coach Lisa Branch said making the playoffs this year was an added bonus to keeping everyone safe. 

“It was definitely emotionally draining with all the COVID protocols and quarantining,” Branch said. “I thought that our girls handled it the best they could. We just tried to keep everybody healthy and safe.”

Branch said the strength of the team is their speed and quickness on both ends of the floor; she said both the guards and post players can get up and down the court well. Branch also said the team can score in a variety of ways, whether in the post or from the perimeter. 

“We have improved our ball movement, it’s better this year than we have had in the past,” Branch said. “It’s not just one or two people scoring but a variety of scorers.”

The team has been watching film and studying Guyer’s plays and defense to prepare for the game. Branch said that transition defense, rebounding and taking care of the ball will be important against Guyer. Freshman point guard Paris Bradley said she believes the team could improve on defense and needs to focus on that.

“I think we really need to focus on contesting their shooters,” Bradley said. “We also need to focus on getting back because most of them can run and their transition offense is where they get most of their points.”

The team lost to Guyer last year in the bi-district round of the playoffs 61-36. While both teams have lost key players, Guyer’s leading scorer from last year has returned this year. Both Branch and Bradley said they expect it will be a close, gritty game. 

“Guyer knocked us out in the first round last year and they didn’t just beat us they beat us handily,” Branch said. “I know I haven’t forgotten about that and I know the returning players haven’t forgotten about that as well. I know how we match up on paper, but I’m excited for the opportunity to match up in a game.”