BRYAN, Texas — The St. Joseph Lady Eagles basketball team is headed to Waco for the TAPPS State Semi-Finals. The team will tipoff Wednesday afternoon against the Valor Prep Knights who have become a familiar foe.
“They’re a good team,” junior forward Leah Hurley said. “We’ve played them twice it’s been within 10 points both times.”
“All-around they’re a great team,” senior center Gabi Roy said. “Really there’s not a huge weakness, I think it’s just going to be whoever wants it more and whoever is going to work harder."
Last year the Lady Eagles lost in the regional final round of the postseason but their hard work this summer, veteran roster, and strong team chemistry has proved to be a recipe for success this season.
“It makes communicating with them easier and receiving feedback, and giving feedback way easier,” Roy said. “I also think it makes us play all together and not just be selfish and play for ourselves. We get to play for our whole team.”
“At this point it feels like a big family and I love it so much,” Hurley said, “We just get along so well, our vibe is just there.”
This trip to state marks the first in 8 years for the Lady Eagles and they’ll continue to lean on their team comradery and strong defense.
“I think communication is really good on our team, helping when we need to help,” Roy said. “I think definitely just the vibe of the team and how together we are.”
“Defense, that’s what we pride ourselves on as a program,” head coach Seth Walker said. “Keeping the other team’s scoring down and score more points than them at the end of the game."
And the team knows they’ll need to get out to a fast start and rely on their preparation to punch their ticket to the state finals.
“We came out in the regional final last week and we played really slow in the first quarter not really our game,” Walker said. “We rode the ship of the course of the game but a really strong start on Wednesday would go a long way for us to getting through to the championship game.”
“What we’ve done all season on the rides to games, on the bus, we’ll be watching film, we’ll be taking notes doing little scouting reports,” Hurley said. “We get locked in for the game and we’ll be ready.”
The Lady Eagles and Knights will face off for the third time this season but none more important than Wednesday afternoon with a trip to the TAPPS state finals on the line. Tipoff at University High School in Waco is set for 2 p.m.
