With just seconds to go in Thursday’s freshmen girls basketball game between Central and West, the Mustangs’ Liz Schneider ripped the ball from a Warhawk player and fought for the final shot of the game.

Schneider’s shot hit the mark, causing the home crowd at the Lawrence Community Building to cheer the team on.

Unfortunately, the game had been decided long before. The Warhawks beat the Mustangs 48-27, and led handily after the first quarter.

It wasn’t the outcome they had wanted, but there was something the Mustangs could take out of the game.

“We started out really slow,” Central player Jaime Jarret said. “But we started making some baskets and we were really playing hard.”

And playing hard is what the Mustangs are all about.

So far the season hasn’t gone entirely as the team had hoped. The early season schedule had the team going losing all three of its city opener’s by double-digits. But Schneider’s last second tenacity, along with the rest of the team’s fight, was something the head coach hoped to work on throughout the season, despite the lopsided losses.

“We knew going in that we don’t match up real well to the schools we play in Lawrence or even to some that we play out of town as we are not an experienced crew by comparison,” Central coach Mike Wormsley said.

“I just want to see us in each game show more confidence on the court, better decision making and to give complete effort from opening tip to final buzzer.”

Thursday’s loss to the Warhawks, albeit by 21 points, proved to Wormsley that his kids were on the right track.

“So far I have been pleased to see progress being made,” Wormsley said. “Sometimes we take small steps, but at least we are still moving forward.”

The players feel they are making progress as well.

Jarrett said the team feels like they will always give their best effort no matter the opponent. The team’s attitude remains intact even after early setbacks in excess of 40 points.

But even as the positive attitude and last second tenacity thrives among this group of freshmen basketball players, they are, in at least one way, just like any other team.

“Our goal is to win a game, but there are definitely some hard times,” Jarrett said. “But each time we go out on the court we want to play hard and fight as much as we can.”