By Ashley Keller

The Lady Titans suffered a loss last Friday against the ThunderRidge Grizzlies. This came after they won the three previous games before losing to ThunderRidge. The girls overall is currently 9-6. They will be playing a game tonight at Rock Canyon at 7 p.m.

“In 5A we’ve never won more than nine games. We’re feeling pretty good right now. Having 12 wins would give us a winning record. We’re really focused on hitting double digits in wins [this season],” Coach Eli Moore said.

Sophomore Haley Hildenbrand was chosen as Player of the Game for the Heritage game that the Titans won. “My best game so far has been Heritage. I had 14 points that game. I played well and hard. I attribute [my success to] my coaches and my dad.”

This is Hildenbrand’s first year playing on the varsity level. “I like [playing on varsity more]  than junior varsity. You have a family and it’s so much better. It’s really fun,” Hildenbrand said. “It’s interesting [being the only sophomore on the team]. You feel kind of by yourself. But the juniors make me feel like I’m a part of the team,” Hildenbrand said.

By Ashley Keller

The Lady Titans lost two straight games last week. They played on Jan. 7 against the Mesa Ridge Grizzlies, losing 62-27. The next day, the girls played against the Pine Creek Eagles and were defeated 45-39. The two losses ended a three game winning streak.

“I think the losses have made us stronger. They have given us something to learn from,” Junior Captain Megan Jordan said.

While Jordan is the team captain, the team has also been impacted by a surprising player, junior point guard Kristen Gallagher. She has played good defense, with an averaging two steals per game.

Despite the outcome of the two previous games, the girls overall record is 6-4. The team plays 13 more games before the season is over. The Lady Titans will be playing tonight against the Cougars at Cherokee Trail at 7 o’clock.

“[The season] is going good. We still have a lot of things to work on. But if we just work on the little things, we should be set,” Jordan said.

By Ashley Keller

The thing about a young team is that they get older. The “building years” end and the expectations rise. That’s the case with the girls’ varsity basketball team.“As Coach [Eli] Moore said, ‘the honeymoon is over,’” junior Joey Sale, one of the captains, said.

Being made up of a team of 12 players, nine being sophomores, made for tough wins and losses.  For the last two years, girls basketball has had a record of 9 wins and 15 losses. Those juniors have now gained more experience playing on at the varsity level and are ready for the new year. The girls faced challenges last year that helped shape their new season.

“[Last year] personally taught me to be more physical. And (as) a team, it taught us not to be frantic at times,” Sale said.

“It was definitely intimidating. But I could tell it made myself better,” junior Captain Megan Jordan said.

The nine sophomores played against juniors and seniors last year.  After the start of the season, the girls soon learned to play at that level of competitiveness.  “It was definitely challenging at times. A lot of them were bigger than us and were more experienced. But it was good. It helped us to play at a quicker caliber and learn,” Sale said. “[Last year] taught me not to back down.” Jordan said.

“[Last season] taught us to be disciplined and it showed us what our coaches expectations were,” junior Kylie Hager said.

The seniors graduated last year and it was difficult for the girls. There was only one junior on the team last year and the girls didn’t have many upperclassmen to come to for help.  “We didn’t have anyone to look up on the team. It was a challenge at times since we didn’t have many  upperclassmen,” Sale said.

“The seniors last year were a big part of the team and it was sad to see them leave.” senior Marisa Aguilar said.

This year the girls will face different challenges. Coach Eli Moore expressed his goal of hopefully having a minimum of 12 wins in the season. There are more expectations for the girls for the new year.

“There really haven’t been expectations besides improvement. Now there’s both improving and winning. There’s more pressure on the players,” Moore said.

“There will be higher expectations because the sophomores from last year [are] upperclassmen,” senior Aguilar said.

Marisa Aguilar is the only senior on the varsity team this year, but she sees herself as just another member of the family. “It’s cool being the only senior. Sometimes it feels like a lot of responsibility, but the team is one big family,” Aguilar said.