Sister school rivalry

How the Spartans expect their upcoming game against the Howell Vikings to go

Spartan+girls+hustle+for+the+ball%2C+as+they+face+Parkway+Central.+The+Spartans+played+their+hardest+against+a+formidable+opponent.

Spartan girls hustle for the ball, as they face Parkway Central. The Spartans played their hardest against a formidable opponent.

Isaiah Salin and Natalie Walsh, Staff reporter

With a very good record comes an expectation for more winning, every game. Through all of this, the Spartan girls have continued to prepare the exact same all season long. According to the girls basketball team twitter, their preparation for a game is as follows:

Rise and shine!

Film and scout.

Bus departs.

Relax and snack.

Warm up for game.

It’s simple. Their routine has worked for them throughout this season successfully, as the Spartans are currently 15-4 and are consistently ranked in the top 20 for Missouri standings . But everything is different when it comes to playing Howell High. The rivalry between our sister school changes everything. Suddenly warming up isn’t just warming up anymore. Now it’s warming up in front of all your schoolmates and family who want nothing but spartan success and viking defeat.

In order to make this happen, the girls have to continue working at improving their game.

“Something we talk about and continue to work on is rebounding more on offensive and defensive side but I think we are getting better at it,” junior Jocelyn Morelli said.

Morelli knows that the team will continue to improve, and with the improvement comes higher expectations.

Azaria Hulbert, junior, understands the formidability of the Vikings, especially their defense.

“We know they can play defense so that is [something important],” Curry said.

Understanding how the team plays and where their strengths are will help our girls win. For this reason, the “film and scout” part of their routine is very important.

“We watch film, which is videos of the other team playing games, and then we pick out certain players as well as look at the team overall,” sophomore Sophie Delaney said.

As far as expectations, Delaney feels that they had prepared well and will perform to a higher level.

“We are trying to get this next conference win and I know that we are super pumped and ready to get this done. And they’re coming [to our school]… so we can beat them here,” Delaney said.

So when the buzzer rings for the start of their game at Francis Howell Central this Tuesday night, at 7 PM,  the team will be ready to beat their rival school and get yet another conference game win.

“We know they can play defense so that is [something important]”

— Azaria Hulbert