This year, the Lady Bear Basketball team has been busy preparing for the district  season and already has specific goals in mind that they would like to accomplish. According to head coach Ricky Ryan, the Lady Bears will strive to finish first or second in district and advance in the playoffs.

Ryan also said the team would like to win at least 20 games and so far, the chances of that happening are pretty high.

“The Lady Bear Basketball team is looking good this year,” Ryan said. “We have good leadership and team spirit.”

So far, the Lady Bears have played one game against Bridge City, which they won 35 to 34. According to Ryan, the team was led by senior Cassidy Webster with 15 points, two of which came from the free throw line with two seconds left. Other Lady Bears that contributed to the win were junior Josie Nimitz and sophomores Grace Chen and Sheridan Rogers, each with four points. Junior Alex Sezer had three points, senior Emalee Carlton and sophomore Maddi Frey each chipped in two points, while junior Tori Thompson had one point.

Ryan is expecting Webster, who has three years of varsity experience and was an all-district player last year, to lead the team this season, as well as the underclassmen.

“Nimitz and Tori Thompson played a lot of valuable minutes on varsity and are ready to make big contributions,” Ryan said.  “Chen and Rogers both played valuable minutes last year on varsity and know what it takes to compete and win on the varsity level.”

According to Ryan, some of the team’s biggest opponents this year will be Lumberton, Central, and Ozen. The team has made adjustments to the offense and defense and is looking forward to overcoming these challenges.

“We plan to meet our goals by working hard every day in practice, playing together as a team better and utilizing our talents better,” Ryan said. “We are going to be a fun and exciting team to watch. Please come out and watch us play.”