Leaning into leadership

Last season, the Encampment Lady Tigers were able to get a lot of experience as there were a total of 11 team members, most of them sophomores. That experience will come in handy for them as they start the year with nine players and four juniors returning.

"We actually don't have any seniors out this year, so that's kind of interesting. Some of the girls have had to step into leadership roles early," said Coach Robin Brown.

Despite the lack of seniors, the Lady Tigers appear to have the drive to try and make the 2019/2020 season theirs.

According to Brown, several players took the initiative over the summer to step into leadership roles on the team. There also isn't a lot of height on the team, which is making the Lady Tigers become innovative in their approach on the court.

"We're not a very tall team, which means that we're just going to have to be really good on defense and we want to push towards the perfect defensive formation every single time the ball comes to us so we can hit at them," said Brown. "That's kind of our plan, is to be defensive specialists all around."

Brown added that she has seen a lot of cohesiveness on her team.

"The very first day of practice ... they were already where a lot of teams are midseason. They were talking to each other, communicating, that leadership was already there," Brown said.