While other classes were playing get-to-know you games on the second day of school, the Girls’ Varsity Basketball team was running drills in the gym during second period, beginning their first official practice of the season.

“Our number one goal early on is to find our identity as a team,” Head Coach Kit Martin said. “We need to create an attitude and effort that will allow us to play at the highest level.”

Last year’s team lost in the State Championship Tournament against three-time defending State Champion Canyon High School with a score of 45-47.

“The defeat in the final game of the playoffs hurt everyone on the team,” senior London Scott said. “Losing motivated everyone to become better so we don’t miss an opportunity like that again.”

This year’s squad has only two varsity seniors returning to the lineup.

“We’re feeling great about this upcoming season,” Assistant Coach Jeannette Mitchell said. “We have a much different team than last year, but the girls have worked all summer so they can prove themselves as being worthy of the varsity status.”

At the end of the 2015-2016 regular season, the team finished with a perfect record of 33 wins and zero losses. The team was later defeated in the fourth round of the playoffs.

“Our basketball team is always expected to be good, but the question is always how good,” Mitchell said. “Obviously we think we’re still one of the best teams in the state. The only difference is that nobody expects us to be as good as we’ve been the last two seasons.”

The team has made playoffs 10 years in a row.

“We have a strong tradition of winning since the opening year of Timberview,” Martin said.  “Although we have a long history of success, we don’t feel pressure from the outside world to maintain it. We are just determined to succeed and it propels our effort daily.”

The girls are chasing the legacy of the 2009-2010 State Champions.

“I see us winning it all,” Scott said.  “We’ve gotten closer with every season but fall short. This year we won’t.”