The Westside girls basketball season is upon us and with a pre-season ranking of #8, the warriors have high hopes heading into the season. Head coach Steven Clark said he only has one goal in mind and that is to repeat the magic of 2018 and win a state championship.

“State championship is always our goal. We have to develop chemistry and we want to host and win districts and metros,” Clark said.

The Warriors have been practicing for two weeks and are taking steps towards being a competitive team. Clark said they are preparing by catching everyone back up to speed.

“Getting everybody healthy, we had some people who were injured. We have spent a lot of time catching the younger girls up to speed with what we are doing,” Clark said. “Just making sure that we’re prepared, and our chemistry is good and to just focus on these first few games.”

To have success, it’s always important to have some senior leadership. The Warriors are not lacking in this department. They have 5 seniors on varsity and Clark says those seniors have contributed a lot the past 4 years.

“You know, we have some pretty good senior leadership this year. Five seniors and four that have been pretty strong leaders for us for four years,” Clark said. “Ella [Wedergren] does a lot as the point guard, Jasmine’s [McGinnis-Taylor] got a division one scholarship so she’s doing her part, Brooklyn [James] has been one of our best shooters and Abby [hellman] is a great hustler.”

The Warriors will hit the courts for the first time tonight when they face Lincoln Northeast, who went 16-7 last year and lost in districts to the eventual champs in Millard North. The game will be at 5:30 at Westside.