by Sam Abbas | staff writer

With basketball season under way, the Lady Jags are preparing on the hardwood. The seasoned team is working for a successful playoff run in the upcoming season.

“We have a very talented team with players that are pretty skilled and have been playing with each other for a while. We are lucky that the girls come to Johnson with very high basketball knowledge and skill,” coach Stephanie Desmarais said.

The players are going to focus on several key issues as the season progresses.

“Our overall attitude and approach to the game will have the biggest impact on our team’s success. We have to make sure we keep working hard and keep learning better communication.The approach we take toward every game is going to impact our success,” Desmarais said.

The Lady Jags have developed a quick, up tempo style of play throughout the past few seasons.

“We like to use our speed to our advantage by running the break and getting easy points in transition. Most of our points come from fast breaks because we are pretty quick and it makes running the floor and scoring easier,” senior captain Erica Sanders said.

Sanders believes she can help the team focus on the game at hand. She has played multiple years on varsity and thinks the team will be successful this season.

“I think I can help keep the team motivated and keep us playing together. I feel like as a captain I have more responsibility to help keep us playing at a high level and together as a team,” Sanders said.

With over 30 games on their schedule, the Lady Jags have a long season ahead of them. They need to preserve and keep working towards their goals to have a successful postseason run.

“We need mental toughness to fight through the long season. We need to push through even when we are mentally drained toward the end of the season to reach our goals and be successful,” Desmarais said.