It’s the season for winter sports! The girls basketball team is preparing to kick off their season by mixing tried-and-true methods with new strategies in the hopes of continuing the success of last year’s season.

The girls team dominated the court in their first game of the season on Dec. 3. They played against Piedmont Hills High School and finished the match with an invigorating victory of 66-15 that was reminiscent of last season’s success.

“It gave us an opportunity to build our team chemistry, and gave us a confidence boost going into the rest of the season,” said senior Maya Lathi, who has been a guard and small forward on the varsity team for all four of her years at Paly. “I had a lot of fun playing our first official game with new team members!”

Last year, the team won the Central Coast Section (CCS) and had a relatively successful season. However, they suffered a crushing loss in the first round of the state-wide tournament, bringing their season to an early end. Despite the loss, the team was still proud of all it had achieved during the season.

“I thought we did really well [since] we won CCS,” said junior Carly Leong, who has been on the team since her freshman year.

Although their team has been beyond successful, they remain dedicated to improving their strategies and team cohesion for the upcoming season.

“We are trying to use less plays and have a more free-flowing offense,” Leong said.

Though they lost key players Maddy Atwater, Alexis Harris and Coco Lovely, the team has welcomed freshman Grace Thayer and sophomore Lauren Daniel to the team. The Vikes are optimistic about the rest of the season.

“I think that we’ll perform well during the league season,” Lathi said.