Varsity girls basketball began their season on Nov. 1 against Lake Travis, winning 40-37. Under the guidance of coach Tiffany Litton The team boasts an impressive 12 wins in their season so far, and hopes to earn the title of district champs after playoffs.
“I think our very first district game against Round Rock really showed all the preseason effort that we’ve put into getting ready for districts,” sophomore and point guard Maddie Broxterman said. “That game was really aggressive and hard, but we ended up winning. So that game really showed that we’re ready for districts.”
Winning their Round Rock game 42-37, the team has also been undefeated in districts thus far, bringing them closer to their goal of district champs.
“We were able to make it [to playoffs] last year,” junior post Camden Stille said. “So I think even with having to adjust to not having a super big team this year, I think we still have a very good shot at making it to the playoffs.”
For the last year’s season, the team had multiple taller players who worked as posts, but following their graduation, the team has had to adapt to being smaller and finding ways to work with their heights.
“Our coach is doing a great job at realizing what we need to improve on. She’s really focusing and driving that into our heads. We can all attack off the dribble, and we’re a fast moving team,” senior forward, center and team captain Emma Winans said. “Coach Litton has done a really good job at making that obvious to us. And so we’re playing in that style, which is helping us a lot.”
The team is more guard heavy, with their speed helping them on defense in particular, which Winans believes has helped them keep the opposing team’s points down, and thus, helped them win games.
“I think we all have so much chemistry. [Even] outside of basketball, we’re all really close,” Broxterman said. “I feel like that correlates when we’re on the court. We all just kind of see each other when we’re open.”
The team’s next game will be against Vista Ridge on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. at Vista Ridge High School, with their final game before playoffs being on Feb. 4 against Hutto.
“I just want to really focus on having 100% energy in every single game. Because each game is the last time I’m playing like these certain teams,” Winans said. “At the end of the season, I want to feel accomplished in my four years at Vandegrift, and I just want to have a good, big impact.”
