The girl’s basketball team will focus on becoming more athletic and will work on shooting this offseason. With the returning nine players who will be seniors next season, the team will look to bounce back from a second round loss in the playoffs.

The team’s season ended as they lost to Frisco Lone Star (25-7), 69-44, in the area round of the state playoffs on Feb. 17. The team ended the season 25-9 and finished in third place in the district 15-5A standings.

Head coach Lance Boxell said he was impressed by his team’s improvement from last year to this year.

“Nine of our 11 players were a part of last year’s team which went 12-19 and missed the playoffs,” Boxell said. “The improvement that each one of those players made as well as the addition of the new players made us a significantly better team.”

The team’s focus now shifts to the improving for next season.

“Both of the teams we played in the playoffs were more athletic than us, which made it difficult to rebound and keep the offensive players in front of us,” Boxell said. “We will need to become more athletic so that we are more prepared to win games when the other team is able to put five good athletes on the court.”

The team will also work on shooting this offseason, specifically from the 3 point line and free throws. The team shot 28.6 percent from the three point line and 59.3 percent from the free throw line over the course of the season.

“We will need to shoot closer to 70 percent from the free throw line and 35 percent from three point line to become a better offensive team,” Boxell said.

Junior guard Taylor Meixelsperger said she was happy with her team’s performance this year.

“This year we had a winning record which was one of my goals and my goal next year is for our team to make it past the second round of playoffs,” Meixelsperger said.

Varsity experience will be a big advantage going into next year, as nine returning players already have two full years of playing on the varsity level.

“The nine upcoming seniors we will have next year will be a great benefit to our program as these girls will provide great leadership to our younger players,” Boxell said. “These seniors were freshmen when I became the girls basketball coach at Lovejoy so they know what the expectations are for our program, and it will be like having nine more coaches on the floor for each game and practice.”