Trinity Christian got awfully used to life on top, and who can blame them?
Climbing to the top of the TAPPS Class 4A heap five times in six years will make winning seem like a rite of passage, after all.
So three seasons of not finishing where they want understandably has the Lady Lions feeling a little restless.
It’s not something longtime coach Tyler Neal spends a lot of time reminding his crew about, but he has been around his senior-led team long enough to pick up on some cues on their collective frame of mind.
“Winning a state championship is always powerful motivation, so when a team hasn’t done it in a while, that has the same effect,” Neal said. “We really don’t talk about it a ton. We talk more about the qualities we want to have as a team and the habits we want to establish to create that desired result, and then we focus on the process.
“We were headed in the right direction last year and we lost a real heartbreaker (in the Class 4A regional round). That gives us some confidence that we’re doing the right things, and we have a really strong contingent of girls who are hungry to take the next step.”