WEBVTT
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(upbeat music)
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This season we're looking for a change in our program.
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Our program has been down for several years,
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and we've got some girls now
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that are becoming upperclassmen.
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They got a lot of playing time as freshmen starters,
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as freshmen and sophomores,
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and they were on the lower end of the food chain.
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And so we went through a lot of growing pains
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and bumps and bruises and things of that nature.
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And because of that,
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now that most of those girls I think are juniors
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and got one or two seniors as well, we think,
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that we should be able to change our overall outlook,
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change our winning percentages,
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and things of that nature
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and just really be able to go out there and compete
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on a nightly basis,
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because now rules and strategies and things like that
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are starting to set in.
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This is also my second year at the school
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coaching girls basketball.
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So the things we were doing last year
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may not have registered
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right off the bat, may not have set in,
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but going into the second year,
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the girls are a lot more comfortable with me,
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understand what I wanna do, what I'm trying to do,
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and understand the ways that we're supposed
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to arrive at those points.
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So I just think that it's gonna really all come together
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on the floor and off the floor for us to be more successful
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than what we've been in in the previous years.
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I like now that we have a little bit of everything.
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I think we have some girls that can shoot the ball.
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I think we have some girls that can handle the ball.
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We've got size for the first time in a while.
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We got length as well.
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So those things really,
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really change the dimension of a ball game for you
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when you've got several of those things in your favor
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that you can actually give some different looks and things,
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different looks and different fields and kind of throw teams
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off balance with.
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So I'm excited about that to see how it all comes together.
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We just kind of started practicing
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and stuff like that so we kind of got some looks
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to see what we can do
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and we're just really looking forward to it.
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Some of my leaders,
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two young ladies that we have here today, one is a junior,
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one is a senior, Miara Knight who's a little guard.
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She plays point guard and shooting guard.
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And then we also have Tolania Agun,
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who plays center and power forward.
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And like I said, Miara,
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this is her third year.
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She's a junior and Tolania is her second year.
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And like I said, they've been playing for a while now
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and like I said,
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been kind of on the low end of the totem pole,
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and now we're expecting
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to kind of compete with everybody else, so.
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A successful year at the end of the season,
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well we haven't had any,
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we haven't had any post-season play in a while
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and we're here to compete this year, we really are.
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And so that's one of our goals
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to try to make it to the post-season.
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Another one of our goals is to have double digit wins.
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We've been in single digits probably
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for at least the last seven, eight, maybe nine years.
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So we're setting,
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those are two of our goals post-season play.
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And to have double-digit wins and be over 500.
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I expect us to make a statement for ourselves,
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because we're seen as the underdogs.
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So we wanna get up there in the season.
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Yeah, what she said,
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we're seen as the underdogs.
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I think we are gonna be able to prove ourselves this season
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with more wins. We have more bodies and more height.
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So I think we'll do good.
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I'm very excited, before the game,
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we're always listening to music and very hype,
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and coach brings energy in before the game starts.
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Yeah, we're excited.
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I think we're actually,
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more confident this year to last year and we do play music.
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We get very high before the game, so yeah.
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Winning more than half our games,
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and being first in the area.
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Yeah, I think the season win more than half of our games
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and we come in with like a better attitude, more stronger,
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um, just a better attitude for the team, yeah.
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Our theme is growth this year.
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I'm really looking forward to see the growth from last year
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to this year.
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I have a lot of the girls,
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the same ones that came back,
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I had a really young team last year.
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Um, like my starting five
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is probably gonna be two sophomores,
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a junior, one senior and a freshman.
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So I'm, I'm really excited to see the growth
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from last year to this year.
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Overall the expectations is to make the name for Mae Jemison
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again, grow is our theme,
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and so I'm really excited for them defensively for us
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to be just hard nosed team offensively
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to be moving the ball,
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scoring well, being together.
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I'm really excited for people to see
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the growth of them playing together.
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And you know, we're six A now.
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Last year we were five A, we moved up,
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our area is Hazel Green Buckhorn, Lee and us.
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So we have a tough area.
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So I'm really excited to see them compete.
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I'm excited, when and I was a player,
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Tim was at Bob Jones,
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so I really admire one thing about him,
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just the discipline that he has with his girls.
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And I'm excited, like you have what?
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The best team in six A,
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let's just say it and you could say even one of the best
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in the whole state of Alabama.
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So, I'm a competitor and you got in order to...
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The cliche saying in order to be the best,
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you gotta beat the best.
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So I'm excited to have them in our area
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and it's a challenge,
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but we're up for it and we're ready for it.
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It's exciting to see 'cause like when I was a player in 2014
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graduating from Madison Academy,
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I would say the girls program is really high
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and then we took like a decliner,
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but now it's starting to come back up.
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So it's cool seeing girls being more intentional in the gym,
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you're starting to see that.
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The game is starting to be just as fast it is for the boys,
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maybe not here in this area.
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You're starting to see more dunking now in the game too.
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So I think it's a real testament to Huntsville
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and player development as well just surrounding our area.
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So I think that it's really awesome to see
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and I'm excited for people in our community
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to see the growth from everyone around here.
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I wish I could have brought my whole team
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just 'cause it's gonna take all 11 of them.
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But I will say there's four
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that I'm really calling to step up
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and two of them are here today with me.
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That's Genesis Atkins, Z Barry, Jasmine Irvin,
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and Kayla Richardson.
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Those four I'm really counting on to step up,
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me leaders on my team but, I need all 11.
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So every single one that's on my roster,
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I'm expecting them to be a part of this.
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Honestly, having Hazel Green in our area for us,
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as Jemison, a successful season is true growth,
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is off the court, it's taking care of grades,
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it's showing discipline on this court,
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discipline in the classroom,
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and not just showing up on the scoreboard,
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but just everywhere in life.
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But if we're talking about strictly basketball,
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The sense of being successful,
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is really just us growing.
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I keep saying it 'cause it's just been a big thing for us,
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especially from last year to this year.
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So growth, seeing that with points,
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seeing that with scoring,
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seeing how we carry ourself when the game gets really tough,
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when it's really easy, how do we carry ourselves?
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So that's what I'm really looking forward to,
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to be a successful season this year.
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For this year, we all did a lot of hard work,
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we all done, got in the gym, stayed focused,
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locked in way before basketball season came around,
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we started in the summer, started early.
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So I think this season is gonna really go well,
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we all got the feeling it's gonna go well.
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We all been determining thinking about it's gonna go well.
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So that's how we thinking,
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that's how we gonna go into the game.
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We're confident, the mood in the locker room.
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It's just like all fun but it's also serious.
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Like we know when to be serious,
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when it's time to lock in and play.
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First year it was more like us,
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we were still learning, coach SJ,
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but this year it is like we family now.
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She's like another mother to everybody on the team.
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It's not one person disagreeing.
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It's like everybody agreeing about it.
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She teaches us good things on and off the court.
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It was an incredible year actually.
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It was a joy to be around the young ladies that we had.
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Of course, we lost four the young ladies on to graduation.
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But it was a tremendous experience.
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We're trying to build on that, like you mentioned,
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making it to the state championship game,
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and coming up short.
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But we also took some valuable lessons with that loss,
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just in life in general.
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All four of my seniors,
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they're going on to the next level playing.
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So it's a great tribute to this program,
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and that's what made it so wonderful
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is that we was able to continue
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these young ladies' education
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and we're trying to continue that legacy here as well.
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It's gonna look very different
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and right now that's really what we're working on.
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We're working on having a really grit mindset.
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Things are gonna happen.
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I'm a testament to that.
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I've been through so much in my life and these young ladies
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have been through a lot as well.
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So we really try to build on that.
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Not worry too much about the game itself,
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but mentally just really lock in
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and focus and whatever we do,
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whatever our endeavors comes out, we like,
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we live with that and we really believe that God has us
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and is gonna put us in the right situation
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no matter what the outcome might be.
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The good thing, we have five returning players
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that play tremendously a lot.
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So we're a young team as as far as grade-wise,
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but we're an experienced team.
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We have Rakia, I mean Rakaya,
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excuse me, Rakaya Taplin,
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she's gonna be our point guard.
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And she's a senior.
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We have Jayla Turner,
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Lamaya Batimba, she was the first team Allstate player,
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both of them were juniors returning.
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Then we have London Harris who's a sophomore
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and then we have my other daughter,
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which Khali Solace is a freshman.
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So we have some girls that actually been through the fire
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and you can tell right now in this beginning of the season,
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the difference going to the championship
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really has brought upon those young ladies,
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'cause they're really pushing the other girls
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and raising the bar and and that's what we expect
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from a team that made it
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to the state championship last year.
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I tell a lot of people, yes,
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that was the first time we actually made it
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to the final four,
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but we've been knocking on that door for the last, what?
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Five out of the last eight years we've been right there
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knocking on the door.
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So to finally get over that hump is tremendous
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and you can really see the the work ethic
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that these girls are pouring in and like you mentioned,
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we have a lot of new faces,
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we have a couple kids
262
00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:18.570
that's coming in from different places,
263
00:11:18.570 --> 00:11:21.090
from middle school, other programs and stuff like that.
264
00:11:21.090 --> 00:11:23.580
So, we might struggle early on,
265
00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:26.610
but one thing I love is that we're competing in practice
266
00:11:26.610 --> 00:11:28.650
every day and we have a lot of girls
267
00:11:28.650 --> 00:11:30.870
that's playing flag football right now
268
00:11:30.870 --> 00:11:32.430
and they have a great chance as well
269
00:11:32.430 --> 00:11:34.710
of going pretty far in the playoffs.
270
00:11:34.710 --> 00:11:36.540
I wanna say we got about seven girls
271
00:11:36.540 --> 00:11:38.520
that's playing out there as well.
272
00:11:38.520 --> 00:11:41.460
So that competition out there,
273
00:11:41.460 --> 00:11:43.260
bringing that competition in here,
274
00:11:43.260 --> 00:11:44.490
it does nothing but just continue
275
00:11:44.490 --> 00:11:46.350
to raise the level of our program.
276
00:11:46.350 --> 00:11:49.080
We went down the last two years
277
00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:50.700
but we've been in the same area
278
00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:53.070
with Hazel Green, Buckhorn and Jemison,
279
00:11:53.070 --> 00:11:55.560
especially Jemison, we've been together
280
00:11:55.560 --> 00:11:56.950
for the last eight years
281
00:11:57.960 --> 00:11:59.850
and then with Hazel Green and Buckhorn,
282
00:11:59.850 --> 00:12:01.680
it was the last six outta eight years.
283
00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:05.430
So it's familiar faces,
284
00:12:05.430 --> 00:12:08.280
every night you have to bring it in this area.
285
00:12:08.280 --> 00:12:10.050
Like I said, Hazel Green has won
286
00:12:10.050 --> 00:12:13.350
the last five state five, six, whatever it's been,
287
00:12:13.350 --> 00:12:15.930
state championships and everything like that.
288
00:12:15.930 --> 00:12:20.930
And I really feel like having good competition around
289
00:12:21.990 --> 00:12:23.520
and playing good competition,
290
00:12:23.520 --> 00:12:26.820
it really elevates everybody games around
291
00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:31.050
like going into this season we can easily go oh and 20,
292
00:12:31.050 --> 00:12:33.240
with the type of schedule that we have.
293
00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:36.330
But I look forward to that because at the end
294
00:12:36.330 --> 00:12:38.970
that's why we're trying to really play our best basketball,
295
00:12:38.970 --> 00:12:40.110
I don't really too much worried
296
00:12:40.110 --> 00:12:42.720
about our wins and losses early on,
297
00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:46.080
I'm really gearing up and I try to make the schedule out
298
00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:49.500
so when we get to the playoffs we're battle tested.
299
00:12:49.500 --> 00:12:53.310
So, I tell the girls and the girls they are tested as well.
300
00:12:53.310 --> 00:12:55.380
Like, we wanna play the best
301
00:12:55.380 --> 00:12:57.570
and Hazel Green, Mae Jemison, Buckhorn,
302
00:12:57.570 --> 00:12:59.520
some of the best programs in the State,
303
00:12:59.520 --> 00:13:01.710
not just alone in North Alabama but in the State,
304
00:13:01.710 --> 00:13:03.690
they're one of the best, some of the best programs.
305
00:13:03.690 --> 00:13:06.000
So we wanna get there.
306
00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:08.010
Jemison is just a year removed
307
00:13:08.010 --> 00:13:10.170
from being in the state championship game,
308
00:13:10.170 --> 00:13:11.910
so we're really looking forward
309
00:13:11.910 --> 00:13:13.890
to the challenge going back up to six A,
310
00:13:13.890 --> 00:13:16.650
like you mentioned we played six A, we played seven A.
311
00:13:16.650 --> 00:13:17.760
We want the best.
312
00:13:17.760 --> 00:13:18.920
If you're gonna be the best,
313
00:13:18.920 --> 00:13:21.780
I feel like you have to go through the best.
314
00:13:21.780 --> 00:13:23.910
So we're really looking forward to that challenge.
315
00:13:23.910 --> 00:13:26.370
This year we're gonna actually,
316
00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:28.260
we're just gonna be in a gym more
317
00:13:28.260 --> 00:13:32.070
'cause we're in a another area, we're in six A,
318
00:13:32.070 --> 00:13:34.380
so we have tougher teams to go against.
319
00:13:34.380 --> 00:13:37.140
Hazel Green is probably gonna be one of our biggest games
320
00:13:37.140 --> 00:13:39.180
that we're gonna have and I feel like we can beat them,
321
00:13:39.180 --> 00:13:40.580
like it's just a mind thing.
322
00:13:43.516 --> 00:13:44.349
We have new teammates,
323
00:13:44.349 --> 00:13:46.390
so we have to bring them together
324
00:13:47.278 --> 00:13:49.740
and during practice we can't get frustrated at them
325
00:13:49.740 --> 00:13:50.820
because we all gotta learn.
326
00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:54.390
So we just gotta come together as a team and build to go
327
00:13:54.390 --> 00:13:55.740
back to State and win.
328
00:13:55.740 --> 00:13:58.530
It's fun having, getting to play different people,
329
00:13:58.530 --> 00:14:00.060
the same instead of the same people
330
00:14:00.060 --> 00:14:01.740
that we've been playing with.
331
00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:06.740
We'll just have to talk to them just like maybe talk slower,
332
00:14:07.140 --> 00:14:08.400
be more patient with them,
333
00:14:08.400 --> 00:14:10.680
not just really quick to yell at them,
334
00:14:10.680 --> 00:14:13.890
just get to talk to them as so they can understand
335
00:14:13.890 --> 00:14:14.730
'cause they're not used to it,
336
00:14:14.730 --> 00:14:15.930
they're just coming into high school,
337
00:14:15.930 --> 00:14:18.180
they're coming from middle school.
338
00:14:18.180 --> 00:14:20.223
So it's a big difference.
339
00:14:23.250 --> 00:14:25.680
During practice, we have to break down the drills.
340
00:14:25.680 --> 00:14:28.650
We can't just go into it because they don't know
341
00:14:28.650 --> 00:14:29.670
and they would get frustrated
342
00:14:29.670 --> 00:14:32.550
and not like wanna do it and give up.
343
00:14:32.550 --> 00:14:34.530
So we have to break it down and push them,
344
00:14:34.530 --> 00:14:36.150
tell them they can do it.
345
00:14:36.150 --> 00:14:39.813
At the end of the year we gonna win State,
346
00:14:40.680 --> 00:14:43.440
we gonna celebrate, we going to cry
347
00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.020
'cause how far we have come,
348
00:14:46.020 --> 00:14:49.350
we got all the way up there to State, lost by three
349
00:14:49.350 --> 00:14:53.313
but this year we plan on God's willing that we win.
350
00:14:57.930 --> 00:15:00.330
This will be my first season here at Grissom.
351
00:15:00.330 --> 00:15:02.340
I'm very excited about the journey.
352
00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:04.890
Really just excited to be here in North Alabama
353
00:15:04.890 --> 00:15:07.260
to be able to experience the athleticism
354
00:15:07.260 --> 00:15:10.110
and all the great things that's here in Huntsville.
355
00:15:10.110 --> 00:15:11.670
Very excited to be a part
356
00:15:11.670 --> 00:15:13.380
of the Grissom Lady Tigers program.
357
00:15:13.380 --> 00:15:15.960
We have a group of younger girls who have been working
358
00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:18.090
extremely hard and just buying into our system
359
00:15:18.090 --> 00:15:20.970
and our expectations for the year.
360
00:15:20.970 --> 00:15:22.950
We're definitely just expecting our young girls
361
00:15:22.950 --> 00:15:25.020
to go out there and to compete first and foremost,
362
00:15:25.020 --> 00:15:27.630
and to carry themselves,
363
00:15:27.630 --> 00:15:30.243
in the way that our program is structured.
364
00:15:31.258 --> 00:15:34.740
I think one thing that would be our strength this season
365
00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:37.140
is just speed, and just having young girls
366
00:15:37.140 --> 00:15:38.850
who believe in what we're trying
367
00:15:38.850 --> 00:15:41.250
to do for our program, so, yeah.
368
00:15:41.250 --> 00:15:45.000
Definitely, we have some senior leadership and Lamaria Jones
369
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.150
and DeKezia Moore, who will be here,
370
00:15:48.150 --> 00:15:49.920
speaking with you guys shortly.
371
00:15:49.920 --> 00:15:51.420
We have some other young girls
372
00:15:51.420 --> 00:15:52.950
who's coming up in the program.
373
00:15:52.950 --> 00:15:53.790
One thing about me,
374
00:15:53.790 --> 00:15:55.920
I believe you don't have to be a senior
375
00:15:55.920 --> 00:15:57.960
or even a upperclassmen to be a leader,
376
00:15:57.960 --> 00:15:58.950
and we have some young girls
377
00:15:58.950 --> 00:16:01.500
who are showing great leadership traits
378
00:16:01.500 --> 00:16:02.820
of our program already.
379
00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:07.170
I'm new here so I don't know much about the programs per se
380
00:16:07.170 --> 00:16:09.147
but I've heard a lot of great things about the programs
381
00:16:09.147 --> 00:16:11.040
and the other teams in the area,
382
00:16:11.040 --> 00:16:14.730
and far as the expectations for us in comparison to them,
383
00:16:14.730 --> 00:16:17.100
just to go out there and to compete
384
00:16:17.100 --> 00:16:18.480
and to play our basketball.
385
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.590
We tell our girls every day if we get 1% better each day,
386
00:16:22.590 --> 00:16:24.840
would be 100% by the time we need to be.
387
00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:26.580
I have really high expectations
388
00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:29.550
so that's a really hard questions to answer per se.
389
00:16:29.550 --> 00:16:31.710
But just our expectations are, for one,
390
00:16:31.710 --> 00:16:33.720
I tell the girls all the time,
391
00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:35.700
if we go out there, and you and we lose,
392
00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:37.920
and you do everything I did,
393
00:16:37.920 --> 00:16:40.470
or everything I told you to do, for us, that's a win.
394
00:16:40.470 --> 00:16:43.890
So just being able to go out there to compete,
395
00:16:43.890 --> 00:16:48.720
and I guess a win for us is, my expectations are high.
396
00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:52.020
I want us to place in the area to do well.
397
00:16:52.020 --> 00:16:53.820
I'm originally, people may not know,
398
00:16:53.820 --> 00:16:56.310
but I'm originally a native of Flint, Michigan.
399
00:16:56.310 --> 00:16:57.690
I moved south when I was younger.
400
00:16:57.690 --> 00:17:00.570
I grew up in a small Bamati town
401
00:17:00.570 --> 00:17:02.190
called Notasulga, Alabama.
402
00:17:02.190 --> 00:17:04.230
Is right next to Tuskegee.
403
00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:06.990
I'm a proud graduate of Notasulga High School.
404
00:17:06.990 --> 00:17:08.520
I played collegiate basketball
405
00:17:08.520 --> 00:17:11.250
at the illustrious Tuskegee University.
406
00:17:11.250 --> 00:17:13.470
I'm a proud graduate of Tuskegee University.
407
00:17:13.470 --> 00:17:16.290
After graduating and playing basketball at Tuskegee,
408
00:17:16.290 --> 00:17:19.080
I went on to coach at Booker T. Washington High School
409
00:17:19.080 --> 00:17:21.750
and that's where I was for the past three years
410
00:17:21.750 --> 00:17:23.340
coaching girls basketball.
411
00:17:23.340 --> 00:17:25.500
And so like I said, I'm new to the area
412
00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:27.690
but I'm not new to the game of basketball
413
00:17:27.690 --> 00:17:29.610
and coaching and playing.
414
00:17:29.610 --> 00:17:34.610
I expect to work hard, to compete,
415
00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:37.560
and I expect to just put everything out on the court
416
00:17:37.560 --> 00:17:39.090
so that we can take the W.
417
00:17:39.090 --> 00:17:40.560
We're confident in our new coach
418
00:17:40.560 --> 00:17:43.830
because she has shown that she wants to help us,
419
00:17:43.830 --> 00:17:45.030
and wants us to be better.
420
00:17:45.030 --> 00:17:48.840
So we're pretty confident that we'll do really good.
421
00:17:48.840 --> 00:17:53.100
Successful season, just working hard,
422
00:17:53.100 --> 00:17:56.190
and making sure that we compete every single game
423
00:17:56.190 --> 00:18:01.190
and don't take no plays off, and just taking the W's.
424
00:18:01.740 --> 00:18:06.213
Be better than last year, being coachable, be a leader,
425
00:18:07.230 --> 00:18:10.140
play hard, like trust each other on the court.
426
00:18:10.140 --> 00:18:14.040
Chemistry is a big factor and that's what we gotta do
427
00:18:14.040 --> 00:18:16.200
and I believe us, we are gonna do it,
428
00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:18.180
it's growing every day in practice.
429
00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:22.770
Successful seasons is gonna be for us is like competing.
430
00:18:22.770 --> 00:18:25.440
I feel like when we compete, and give us all,
431
00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:28.920
I can take that, I accept it, win or a lose,
432
00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:31.720
as long as we do our job, I feel like we should be good.
433
00:18:35.430 --> 00:18:37.143
I really like my team this year.
434
00:18:38.580 --> 00:18:41.133
We're kind of a mix of inexperience and experience,
435
00:18:43.380 --> 00:18:45.600
past three years we have gone to Jacksonville
436
00:18:45.600 --> 00:18:47.370
and made it to the regional tournament.
437
00:18:47.370 --> 00:18:49.320
That's always a goal of ours.
438
00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:50.850
We wanna find a way to get outta the area,
439
00:18:50.850 --> 00:18:54.810
it's a really strong area and make it down to Jacksonville
440
00:18:54.810 --> 00:18:58.560
and then just kind of go from there.
441
00:18:58.560 --> 00:19:02.070
Last year we were just right above 500 in our overall record
442
00:19:02.070 --> 00:19:04.890
and we were kind of an up and down team.
443
00:19:04.890 --> 00:19:06.750
It was very inexperienced team,
444
00:19:06.750 --> 00:19:09.450
and I think some of those ups and downs
445
00:19:09.450 --> 00:19:11.673
were attributed to the inexperience.
446
00:19:12.540 --> 00:19:15.120
We're not extremely experienced this year,
447
00:19:15.120 --> 00:19:17.400
but we have some of the experience,
448
00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:19.740
some of the girls that'll be starters and play a key role,
449
00:19:19.740 --> 00:19:22.140
they do have experience in area championship games
450
00:19:22.140 --> 00:19:24.360
and going to Jacksonville, and things like that.
451
00:19:24.360 --> 00:19:27.360
We're not a very good shooting team last year,
452
00:19:27.360 --> 00:19:29.400
so we really spent a lot of time working on that,
453
00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:32.040
trying to become better in that regard
454
00:19:32.040 --> 00:19:33.960
because I think when we got in some of those big games,
455
00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:38.960
we struggled offensively and it's hard to win games
456
00:19:39.150 --> 00:19:41.157
when you're below 45 in some of those key games.
457
00:19:41.157 --> 00:19:42.660
And we did, I think,
458
00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:44.730
the game that actually put us in Jacksonville,
459
00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:47.760
I think we won 45, 41 if I remember correct.
460
00:19:47.760 --> 00:19:50.310
But we've gotta push ahead because some of those good teams,
461
00:19:50.310 --> 00:19:53.088
they're winning in the high 50s and low 60s
462
00:19:53.088 --> 00:19:55.650
and so we really focused on skill work,
463
00:19:55.650 --> 00:19:56.910
focused on improving our shooting,
464
00:19:56.910 --> 00:19:58.530
trying to get better in that regard.
465
00:19:58.530 --> 00:20:01.623
Yeah, I got Megan Hubbard and Abby Johnson with me today.
466
00:20:02.730 --> 00:20:05.010
They'll start at the three and four respectively
467
00:20:05.010 --> 00:20:07.560
when we open up next Thursday night.
468
00:20:07.560 --> 00:20:09.480
Abby started, was a starter last year.
469
00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:12.480
She was really our second leading score throughout the year.
470
00:20:13.976 --> 00:20:16.150
She's a physical rebounder, good defender
471
00:20:17.970 --> 00:20:21.390
and Megan's gonna step in and she's gonna start at the five
472
00:20:21.390 --> 00:20:23.670
and she's really improved her game,
473
00:20:23.670 --> 00:20:24.720
really worked on her shooting,
474
00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:26.160
really worked on her skill level.
475
00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:27.240
Barman's a really good team.
476
00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:31.950
They've got two elite level guards and they won it last year
477
00:20:31.950 --> 00:20:34.890
and obviously, they're the odds on favorite this year
478
00:20:34.890 --> 00:20:36.900
in terms of if people were prognosticating
479
00:20:36.900 --> 00:20:38.450
at the beginning of the season,
480
00:20:39.630 --> 00:20:41.580
when we play them we've gotta do a really good job
481
00:20:41.580 --> 00:20:42.570
of handling their pressure.
482
00:20:42.570 --> 00:20:45.988
They're really good at putting pressure on you in the full
483
00:20:45.988 --> 00:20:48.450
and Grissom's got a new coach,
484
00:20:48.450 --> 00:20:50.700
Albertville has a new coach really,
485
00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:52.950
it'll kind be a filling out process with them
486
00:20:52.950 --> 00:20:54.780
'cause I'm sure they'll be different in terms of scheme
487
00:20:54.780 --> 00:20:56.880
and stuff in terms of what they try to do.
488
00:20:58.350 --> 00:21:00.090
But yeah, it's a really difficult area,
489
00:21:00.090 --> 00:21:01.890
Spartan is a good team.
490
00:21:01.890 --> 00:21:03.990
Successful season at the end of the year for us,
491
00:21:03.990 --> 00:21:06.390
number one, is I want all the girls in our program
492
00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:11.390
to have a memorable season and really enjoy their time
493
00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:14.340
in Huntsville High basketball.
494
00:21:14.340 --> 00:21:15.660
Obviously, we have goals,
495
00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:18.180
obviously you wanna make it to Jacksonville first,
496
00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:20.520
and then Birmingham, win an area championship,
497
00:21:20.520 --> 00:21:22.860
all those things are goals that we have.
498
00:21:22.860 --> 00:21:25.923
But first and foremost, on our list is,
499
00:21:26.760 --> 00:21:28.320
we wanna have an enjoyable experience
500
00:21:28.320 --> 00:21:29.610
when you're at Huntsville High.
501
00:21:29.610 --> 00:21:31.560
This year we're really trying to push our limits
502
00:21:31.560 --> 00:21:33.690
and make it back to Jacksonville again
503
00:21:33.690 --> 00:21:37.230
and really try to beat who we can
504
00:21:37.230 --> 00:21:38.610
to win the area championship
505
00:21:38.610 --> 00:21:40.660
'cause we were super close last year
506
00:21:41.762 --> 00:21:42.630
and I think this year our team
507
00:21:42.630 --> 00:21:46.983
has really worked hard together to become one unit.
508
00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:49.590
Yeah, I would say that we're really excited
509
00:21:49.590 --> 00:21:51.330
to finally start games
510
00:21:51.330 --> 00:21:56.330
after we're practicing hard and starting off our preseason
511
00:21:57.630 --> 00:22:00.900
and we're excited for the game next Thursday.
512
00:22:00.900 --> 00:22:02.310
And we're really working,
513
00:22:02.310 --> 00:22:03.810
looking forward to working together,
514
00:22:03.810 --> 00:22:07.650
especially because we have a brighter future, I guess,
515
00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:09.630
because last year was our growing year
516
00:22:09.630 --> 00:22:11.460
and now we get to pick it up and run with it
517
00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:16.020
especially 'cause we have juniors and seniors.
518
00:22:16.020 --> 00:22:18.390
We just need to work together as a team
519
00:22:18.390 --> 00:22:21.903
and just have fun with it, and yeah.
520
00:22:24.479 --> 00:22:27.062
(upbeat music)