Hoping to make another five hour drive down I-35 in March, the girls’ basketball team tips off its 2016-17 season at home against McKinney High on Friday at 5:45 p.m. Having reached the state championship game for the first time in school history last year, the team is trying to keep its focus more immediate.

“We’ve been practicing for a couple of weeks now so it’s going to be interesting to see that happen in a game,” senior Rebecca Lescay said. “They’re a pretty good team, they have players with good abilities so it’ll be an interesting game.”

Featuring five seniors and seven sophomores, the team is somewhat lacking in height with no girl listed at taller than six feet, making board work a point of concentration.

“We’re typically a really small team,” senior Jordan Hamilton said. “So what we’re trying to emphasize a lot this year is rebounding offensively and defensively blocking out and getting those extra possessions we need.”

Although the team has several games and tournaments before the start of district play in December, they are already thinking about several teams.

“District wise, a lot of hype is going on about Lone Star so that will probably be our hardest competition,” Hamilton said. “In playoffs, I mean every team is really good but they always want to see that matchup again with Mansfield Timberview.”

For weeks, the team has been practicing in order to get ready for Friday’s season opener, with head coach Ross Reedy having some set standards.

“They are expected to work really hard, they are expected to play together,” Reedy said. “They are expected to have chemistry. But they’re also expected to make mistakes, it’s a long season and we want to do really well right off the bat and make a statement, but we expect some errors but we just expect them to have great character and enjoy being out there and relish that.”