Only six points away from the state championship game in last years final four the Girls Varsity Basketball Team prepares for this season and the road ahead.

“We follow up a year like last year with a series of 10 goals in which we always try to achieve,” Mr. James Alsup, head coach, said. “Our final goal being in the state championship.”

Coach Alsup instilled the principle of hard work, in order to achieve success for the upcoming season, upon his team at the end of last year.

“One of the last things I told the kids at the Mizzou Arena last year was this is your expectation and what you’re working for,” Coach Alsup said. “How close we get depends on how hard they want to work.”

With the loss of four key seniors including: Torrie Allen, Kelsey Tepen, Jessica Moore and Lindsey McCoy, class of 2014, the team must be able to execute without them this year.

“We don’t make up for the seniors of last year being gone. Instead, we’re going to play hard for them because they’re gone,” Coach Alsup said. “They set a good standard for the kids that follow them and we’re going to do our best to play as hard as we can and go as far as we can.”

Much of the team this year is a made up of juniors with a few sophomores and only three seniors, leaving plenty of room for younger players to prove their worthiness of the starting five varsity positions.

“I think we’re a lot better this year than we thought we were going to be,” Grace Archambault, forward, said. “Considering we lost four seniors.”

There are only two returning starters on this year’s squad, Mallory Proffer, guard, and Jessica Poore, guard, who is currently rehabbing from a knee injury.

“We have a lot of younger girls on the team and since there’s not many upperclassmen we won’t have just one leader on the team,” Proffer, said. We’re all going to have to work together.”

Girls who contributed last season will need to step up and help guide the team, along with last years starters and the seniors of this year.

“Kids who played a lot last year are Grace Archambault, and  Casey Plank, guard,” Coach Alsup said. 

This year’s seniors Justine Luze, forward, Plank and Poore will have to take leadership into their own hands and help guide the younger players to success.

“We lost a lot of talent last year,” Plank said. “So I think that as a senior I really need to make sure that we have a good team chemistry and that we’re all working together.”

Despite the fact of having younger, less experienced players the varsity showed great focus and teamwork and should fare well this season.

“It’s going to take time to get used to playing together, Plank said. “But I think once we get going into the season we will end up well,”

The Wildcats open their season against Hazelwood West on Tuesday at Eureka High School in Gym A., Nov. 25.