The girl’s basketball team (5-4) will travel to Austin to play in the Buda Hays Basketball Tournament Thursday through Saturday. The team’s first game will be against El Paso Del Valle in a 9 a.m contest.

Head coach Lance Boxell said the team has been putting extra emphasis on rebounding and limiting turnovers on the offensive end of the floor as they prepare for the tournament.

“The area we have to improve on is defensive rebounding,” Boxell said. “We have been giving our opponents too many second chance opportunities.

Senior Kaylee Rekieta is excited to play in a tournament filled with competition.

“I think we will be able to compete at a high level against most of the teams, even though we haven’t played to our full potential yet,” Rekieta said.

Over Thanksgiving break, the team played in a tournament at The Colony High School and played two non-district games. In the tournament, the team finished with three wins and two losses, including a big overtime win over Sanger High School in the third place game.

Last Monday, the team went on the road to defeat Wakeland 59-30. Rekieta led the team with 14 points, and senior Taylor Meixelsperger added 10. Sophomore Carsen McFadden led the team on the defensive end of the floor with five steals.

Last Tuesday, the team fell to South Oak Cliff 53-48. Rekieta and senior Kim Lyne combined for 30 points, but ultimately the team was defeated in a close overtime loss.

The team hopes to continue executing on offense this year, averaging 52 points per game.

“We have done a better job of scoring this year, scoring five points more per game compared to last year,” Boxell said.

After the tournament, the team will host Denton Braswell on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.