After starting the season off 0-2, the Wenatchee girls basketball team has fought back into fourth place with a record of 4-4. The impressive turnaround included a 59-54 road win over first in league team Davis High School, who was undefeated prior to the game.

“We played power basketball and were extremely aggressive, mostly down low in the post. That was just too much for Davis,” Head Coach Robin Kansky said.

Sophomore Maddi Hallberg added, “We’re definitely a first half team, we usually lose our intensity at halftime, but against Davis, we never let up.”

The team’s stats are spread out virtually evenly throughout the roster, with the leading scorer and rebounder being Junior Amira Chandler with 12 points and 7 rebounds a game. “We play as a team more than anybody else. So there really isn’t a star, which could be a good or bad thing,” Junior Gabby Waterman said.

The team’s major downfall this season has been their excess of turnovers committed. In a single weekend (two games), the team committed approximately 65 turnovers, which wildly exceeds Coach Kansky’s preference of 30-40 turnovers a weekend. “We mainly focus on limiting turnovers in practice and in games, and it’s definitely getting better,” Robin Kansky stated. The players agree that the extra focus is helping, junior Amira Chandler says, “We’re getting better at taking care of the ball everyday, but we just aren’t where we want to be yet”.

The team lost to first place Sunnyside High School 67-48 on Jan. 17 at home.

The team has shown improvement through many of their recent games, including a 63-27 win over league rival Eastmont High School on Jan. 18. The Panthers scoring was lead by  Chandler with 17 points.

The Panther’s first meeting on Dec. 20 was a close game that could’ve gone either way until Wenatchee ran away with it in the final four minutes to win 58-44.

The team’s next home game is Jan. 25 against Davis High School.