Last season the Westside girls basketball team was chasing a state championship title. Unfortunately, they fell just short losing to Milliard West 44-70, but the girls had an awesome run at state, beating the no.2 seed, Millard North 42-40 in the quarter finals. The girls raised the bar for this year, but they cannot let the pressure of being a higher ranked team get to them.
They ended their season with a winning record of 21-7, and are striving to continue their success into this season. Head Coach Steven Clark talks about the goals for this season, and how they have been preparing to reach them.
“Our goal is always to strive for a state championship! Along the way we would like to win our bracket at the NIKE TOC in Phoenix, the metro tournament, and our district tournament. Maximizing our abilities, developing as a team, winning each day, and following our culture are the steps to our big goals,” Clark said. “The girls spend a lot of time in the gym from April to November and the excitement is to see how that work will pay off. We have a high school tournament in KC during June that helps build relationships and our culture. We develop our culture intentionally with DJ throughout the off season.”
With her last season right around the corner, Senior Sanai Foster talks about how she has been preparing for the upcoming season and what she is the most excited for.
“ I have been preparing by working out and doing lots of skill sessions just to stay in shape and get ready for the season,” Foster said.
The team will be mostly the same with six seniors, and eight juniors returning to the varsity squad. The bonds are strong which will lead the girls to success this season. Coach Clark talks about the relationships between the girls, and the coaches.
“This group really gets along well and it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of,” Clark said “We have a culture of One Family (FAM1LY) and this includes our coaches. Inclusion is a big part of what we do and that includes our players, coaches, families, managers, and the community.”
The girls have been creating a bond on and off the court to make sure they stay confident with each other during a game. Foster talks about what they have been doing during practice and outside of basketball to ensure this bond stays tight.
“ Our team bonds just by being together everyday and spending so much time doing things together we bond but we also do activities like team dinners before games and fun outings like mini golf, skydiving, shopping, etc, ” Foster said.
The team has lots they want to accomplish this season, the biggest one being making it back to state. Junior Gueryn Kay talks about how she plans to leave an impact on the team, and what talent she thinks all her teammates have that can make this dream come true.
“I am hoping to make an impact both defensively and scoring-wise this season,” Kay said, “My team will have to really step up offensively this year, and we will have to figure out how to effectively score together.”
The team relies on their seniors for being the leaders, Coach Clark talks about how important they are to the team, and the impact they have made, and will leave after the season is over.
“Seniors are always super important, and they will drive the culture. Our seniors have been great,” Clark said “We have a mix of seniors that have been multiple year starters, multiple years of different roles, and first year varsity seniors. That diversity has been great because it gives them the opportunity to lead from all different perspectives. We will see the impact down the road and I anticipate that this group will have a positive impact on our younger players.”
During her last season Senior Mia Urosevich talks about what she is hoping to teach the younger classman before she leaves Westside basketball behind.
“ I am hoping to teach the underclassmen how to be good teammates who are very supportive, lift each other up, and support each other. I want to be a good leader who helps them grow by being super positive and encouraging to help them be the best they can be,” Urosevich said.
Mental and Physical preparation is so important to get the girls ready for the tough season ahead. Coach Clark talks about what the girls have been doing to get ready.
“We have a system of E+R=O and one of the steps of a response that helps get the outcome that you want is to “get your mind right”. We did some things this fall that centered around positive self talk. They were in groups and recorded how many times a day they talked positively and negatively to themselves and we shared strategies to help with that,” Clark said “Run! We strive to put them in situations that they will encounter in games and help with that decision making process.”
After the hard ending season last season the team wants to make sure that doesn’t happen to them again. Foster talks about what they have been doing to prepare for the season.
“In practice we really hone in on our core values and holding each other accountable as well as just practicing on using our culture lessons and seeing how that translates on and off the court,” Foster said.
Making it back to state is the goal, and they will achieve it by staying locked in all season. Mindset is everything, Coach Clark talks about how this has been integrated into practices and during the tough moments in games.
“Everyone is super excited and feel that we are overlooked a bit with some changes during the off season,” Clark said “Positive self talk, trust each other, believe that you’ve put in the work, and have fun. Trust your training, trust your teammates, trust the game plan, believe in yourself – no one is perfect and the standard is never perfection, the standard is the work.”
Catch them in action this season starting Thursday Dec. 4. for their first regular season game of the year.
