Lady Trojans look toward tournaments for motivation

Every team wants to win conference and state championships. For coach Josh Smith, every game in the Lady Trojans’ schedule points toward that goal. “We try to play a tough nonconference schedule to prepare us for the postseason,” Smith said. “We’re playing in the Conway Tournament, which always has some of the best teams in the state. It’s a great early-season test to see how we measure up against some bigger schools.” The Lady Trojans ended the 2016-17 season with a 24-7 record and earned the title of conference champions. The team fell to Farmington in a 55-58 quarterfinal game of the 2017 5A girls basketball state tournament. Returning starters for the Lady Trojans include seniors Imani Honey, Ariana Guinn and Trinitee Nevels, and junior Nya Moody. Smith said Honey is a great point guard who is able to control the game on both offense and defense. “She’s a great rebounder for a guard, and her assist to turnover ration is 3:1,” he said. Guinn is a combo guard who can handle the ball whenever the team needs her to, Smith said. “She’s been our leading scorer the past two seasons, averaging over 15 points a game, and we’ve watched her shooting percentages increase,” the coach said. Moody is another high scorer for the Lady Trojans, and as a junior, she has time to improve even more, Smith said. “She can score from all three levels,” Smith said. “She’s long and can guard all five positions on the floor. We expect her numbers to jump this year.” Smith said guard play will be one of the team’s strengths, but a weakness the team will have to overcome is overall lack of team depth. Still, he plans to see the Lady Trojans make it far in postseason play, he said. “We will try to play as many girls as we can to gain experience for the conference and state tournament,” he said. Two major games fans will want to come out for is the Dec. 5 away game against Lakeside and the Jan. 16 home game against Lake Hamilton, the coach said. “Anytime you play a cross-town rival, there will be fireworks,” Smith said. “The atmosphere the student sections and fans create at our gym is crazy. We’ve had the fire marshal come in and lock the doors.” The mix of young and old players will provide a solid team, and Smith said he expects big things from all of his players this season. “We have a great combination of seniors and juniors who played a lot of minutes last year,” he said. “We are adding five sophomores to this group that are athletic, and we expect them to jump in and compete from the beginning.”