Ethan Duffield ’13 | Staff Writer

Having made it to the state finals last season, the girls varsity basketball team hopes to match their success from last year. They return four starters and add a couple new sophomores to their roster.

The team’s main goal is to make it back to the state championship and win, team captain Claire DeBoer ’13 said. Getting back to the Breslin Center has been the focus ever since they fell 54-53 to Grand Haven in last year’s title game.

“Defense has been the main focus this year,” said DeBoer. “It’s great to score a ton of points but defense is what really wins games.”

Although all of the girls bring talent to the team, some of the key players include Cierra Rice, Lee Lee Brown both ’15, and DeBoer. Rice and Brown have improved tremendously from their freshman season to now, DeBoer said.

“Lee Lee and Cece both played for two major AAU travel teams over the summer and you can really tell they’ve taken their game to the next level,” said DeBoer.

Instead of playing point guard, Rice will play shooting guard or small forward, DeBoer said. Brown will now be moving to point guard so they can both be on the court together.

“I’m excited to play point,” said Brown. “I like running the offense and pushing the ball up in transition.”

Recently traveling to Chicago to take on the second best team in the country, the girls suffered their first loss of the season, Brown said. Early foul trouble contributed to the girls falling behind in the second half.

“We were within single digits at halftime,” said Brown. “Claire fouled out in the second half and we struggled to find a post presence.”

Looking for their first win of the season, the girls will host Port Huron Northern on Friday at 7:30 p.m. They are confident that they will be able to outplay Port Huron Northern and get a win streak started, DeBoer said.