By Nanik Tagore—
Following two years without a game due to COVID-19, almost all of the girls of Lichen K-8 were new to middle school sports.
This was an adjustment for Coach Johnathan Wilson, who had the task of preparing the girls basketball team for the season.
“Throughout the course of the season they started to get a lot more comfortable and understanding what to do and how to do it, and we got into a groove toward the end of season getting into a good flow,” Coach Wilson said.
One of the first things Wilson focused on was teaching the girls offense, moving without the ball and setting screens. Everything started coming together for the team as they saw the wins stacking up.
Wilson pointed out it was the second game when the girls started to see the defensive press working, a turning point for the young group.
“Once they started realizing locking up on defense, the offense comes a lot easier… getting easy points,” Wilson said.
The success the team found continued all the way to the end of the season with an undefeated 10-0 record.
*This article was published as part of a new collaborative effort launched by The Sentinel to cover local sports, featuring articles written by student journalists from Citrus Heights high schools.