Looking to tame the Lions, both boys’ and girls’ basketball teams continue their District 9-5A seasons on Friday at The Nest, with the girls aiming to go 4-0 at 6:00 p.m., followed by the boys, who hope to bring their district record to 1-1 at 7:15 p.m.

“We have two days to prepare for each game, typically for Fridays, it’s Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning,” head girls’ coach Ross Reedy said. “We feel like we can go out there and have some success, but seeing some of those other things that we’ve done, a couple new looks in defense and offense, in action is what we are hoping to get out of each game. You would think there’s a lot, but there’s actually very few opportunities to see stuff in live action and it’s a good opportunity for us to do that.”

Senior Makenzi Glover believes developing defensively will allow the team to become even greater competition for their opponents.

“We’ve started to implement a few new defensive looks, since it’s new to us, we’re working on improving those to make ourselves even more of a defensive threat,” senior Makenzi Glover said. “The practices this week are more beneficial in preparing us for Friday’s game. We’re all working hard and improving what needs to be done in order to get a win over Reedy.”

Despite having recently integrated new strategies into their play, the Redhawks are already seen as a major threat throughout the district.    

“Liberty will be one of the toughest teams we have and will see all season,” Reedy head girls’ basketball coach Sarah Stanley said via email. “They are a group of very talented, disciplined, and well-coached kids. Playing Liberty will really be a good judge of how much we have improved since the beginning of the season.”

On the boys’ side of the court, head coach Stephen Friar hopes to see improvement from Tuesday’s 60-59 loss against Frisco.

“Hopefully [Tuesday’s game and practices this week] lock us in, and force us to focus and not take anyone lightly,” Friar said. “We have to attack each day with a hungry mindset, and I have all the confidence in the world that we will be better.”

For senior Peyton Harwell, talking on the court is a key component that results in greater in-game opportunities for the team.

“As a team we can always communicate better,” Harwell said. “Communication is just as important as the game itself. We need to talk more and that will lead to a more disruptive defense and more transition opportunities for us which is what we love to do.”  

Currently sharing the same 0-1 record, Reedy head boys’ basketball coach Jon Youngblood sees the Redhawks as a difficult opponent for all of District 9-5A based on their prior performances.

“Liberty is the pre-season District 9-5A favorite, which I believe is very accurate,” Youngblood said. “They are long and athletic and pose a problem for all of 9-5A with their size.”

In order to maintain their competitive reputation, Harwell recognizes that the Redhawks must be prepared and remain focused as anything could happen.  

“We can’t expect anything as a unit and we need to do better on being locked in and making something happen rather than waiting for something to happen,” Harwell said. “We’ll use Tuesday’s film to improve and make sure we’re ready for Friday’s game versus Reedy.”