The 15th seeded Trojans did extremely well in their first game of the state tournament, winning convincingly against the Blue Ridge Yellow Jackets, 48-23. The Trojans then moved onto Round 2 and were faced with a hard matchup against the 2nd seed, Monument Valley. This required the Trojans to take an almost 5 hour road trip up north to the Four Corners area of Arizona to face off against the Mustangs. 

Monument Valley was a hard matchup as they have performed well all year, finishing the regular season 15-3. Although the Trojans were coming in hot and looking to upset the Mustangs after their crucial win earlier in the week, our team fell behind early on and could not catch up. The Trojan girls basketball season ended with a tough loss against the Mustangs, 71-37. 

It is a disappointing way to end a season, but the team still has a lot of young stars that will be on the squad next year. The girls will lose two important players, seniors Sophia Moron and Abbey Mello, who both have had a great year.  

Sophia Moron shared with us about the emotional ride this year. "This year we played well, and we meshed well as a team. The chemistry was great, and we grew together as a team. The most important thing was that we built relationships outside of the game." Sophia added that the last game was upsetting, and it was a hard way to end. She has many positive memories of playing basketball at Valley to take away. She shared, "my favorite memory is from the bus ride to the Florence game, because we were all having a fun time and it was a fun atmosphere."  

Coach Allen was proud of the team's success this year and is looking forward to the next year's season. "We finished strong. We got everything out of the season that we needed to. It was a slow start, and a lot of learning opportunities arose out of that. We finished our last nine games 7-2, so I was really happy and pleased with that. We will definitely have a strong season next year. We have many players returning and definitely a shot at winning region. We will be one of the strongest teams out there, and how this past season ended will help us start in a great place." 

The 2024 team will be strong with many juniors filling the upcoming leadership roles. Bree Hanzal is looking forward to next year and preparing for an even better season. "I am very excited because we have strong incoming freshmen, and we will be more successful. We will put in the work during the summer and work hard next year." 

Next season the girls will be a strong team and one to look out for. LET'S GO TROJANS!