The girls varsity basketball season has started out with a bang! The stands are filled during their home games with tons of cheering fans, eager to see if they pull out a win. The team is currently ranked 7th in the WaMaC conference and has 9 wins and 2 losses. 

The varsity team is pretty balanced when it comes to upper and underclassmen, consisting of 3 freshmen, 2 sophomores, 9 juniors, and 1 senior. Paul Sweeney is the head coach for the team, and is accompanied by three other assistant coaches. The girls practice daily after school, working on things like ball handling, decision making, communication, and shooting and team defense. They even have occasional practices on the weekends to get more time on the court. In an interview, freshman Averie Lower said her coaches help push her to be a better player. “They point out areas of improvement in practice and have a main focus.” This clearly connects to their continued success throughout the season so far because of coaches who have such a passion for their jobs. 

Their latest game on January 27th ended in an unfortunate loss against Benton, who is currently ranked 3rd in the conference. The final score was 59-42. CCA’s highest scorer of the night was junior Kaylee Stratton with a total of 13 points. Ava Locklear followed close behind with 12 points of her own. The Bobcats were able to take a comfortable lead when they scored the first 14 points of the second quarter. By halftime, the score was 38-21. However, the Clippers did not go down without a fight. They got as close as 42-34 before Benton picked it back up again. Lower contributed a total of 6 points, and started off the second half of the game with a four-point play. Lower talked about her teammates and how they help her to be successful on the court. Getting cheered on by them when she makes a good play gives her confidence during games. The girls all have great relationships with each other on and off the court. This really boosts their playing abilities when they know they can trust their teammates during a game. Even the coaches notice it too! When Sweeney was asked what he thinks contributes to the team being so accomplished, his response was, “Easy answer, team chemistry!” Basketball is not just hard physically, but mentally as well. To hype themselves up before playing, they listen to music in the locker room and do the Boot Scootin’ Boogie. A lot of the team spirit is led by the only senior, Olivia Miller, who will be continuing her basketball career at Iowa Central College. 

When asked about Olivia, coach Sweeney said, “Olivia is a tremendous basketball player. She has all the intangibles you look for in a player, works hard, coachable, great attitude, and is a good teammate.” Currently, the team has 4 scheduled games left, but their main goals of the season are to win WaMaC, get to state, and go undefeated at home.

The team puts in so much effort into making themselves the best they can be. Let’s continue to show up for them as a school and help them accomplish what they have worked so hard for!