As winter draws near, the Central girls basketball team is back in action.

Senior forward Breanna Walker said, “Our plan is to go far in districts and hopefully go to state. We should do good this year if we work hard and keep the energy going throughout the games.”

With the season close to starting, the girls are already hard at work with daily conditioning and intense practices.

Coach Lori Bishop said, “We’ve changed up our setup and we do conditioning at the beginning and lasts about 20 minutes. The rest of it is with a ball in their hands.”

The team will have four seniors playing this year, the most they have had in three years.

xWalker said, “We have a lot of seniors this year but we also have a lot of new freshman.The energy is definitely up this year. People are very excited to play.”

One of things to watch out for this year is the team’s fast-paced offense. Junior shooting guard Natalia Allen said, “Our offense is very quick and is mainly centered around lay-ups and taking the ball to the hoop.”

Walker said, “It is fast and amazing. Nothing can stop it.”

As far as defense is concerned the team plans on staying with their solid man-to-man strategy and lots of full court pressure.

This season will be including several tough games against Nixa and Joplin. The team will also be participating in the Kickapoo Classic and the KTXR tournament. With all of this, the players do not seem to be intimidated.

Allen said, “ I think we can do really good this season because a lot of our skill levels are up and we seem to be very prepared and experienced.”

Walker said, “I have confidence in the team. We will do great if we play hard, listen to the coaches and run our offenses well.”