When the West Junior High freshman girls basketball team took the court for practice last Thursday, it was eager to prepare for the opening game of the season.

The Warhawks have been practicing for two weeks, but third-year coach Matt Frost is still trying to figure out his team.

“I don’t know much yet,” he said.

While Frost was uncertain about some aspects of his team, he knew for sure that the strong point of the team was the camaraderie.

“The strength of our team is we all get along pretty well,” Frost said. “The girls all look out for each other.”

One girl who often looks out for her teammates is point-guard Wren Wiebe. She ran the team’s offense for much of practice and made several drives into the paint for easy scores. Wiebe also connected on a few perimeter jump shots. She didn’t say a word about them. She just geared up for the next play.

Coach Frost said Wiebe prefers to provide leadership through performance rather than words.

“She’s a quiet girl, definitely leads by example,” Frost said. “She’s real humble.”

One thing Wiebe is not modest about is her desire to make sure her team gets better every day. To accomplish that task, Wiebe said the team has not been taking any short cuts during practice.

“They’ve been pretty hard,” she said. “We’ve been running a lot.”

Just a few minutes into the day’s practice, the girls ran sprints because of sloppy passing.

First-year player Sarah Hanson said while she was new to playing basketball, she was quite accustomed to running sprints. Hanson previously played volleyball and softball before joining the Warhawks this year.

Playing a new sport can sometimes be difficult for players, but Hanson said she is picking up the little intricacies of the game just fine.

“It’s not too difficult to memorize plays,” she said. “I’m learning a lot.”

The Warhawks look to improve on last year’s 4-10 record, and having players like Wiebe and Hanson could make the Warhawks a competitive team this season.

“Talent-wise we should be pretty good,” Frost said.

Hoping that talent will carry them through the season, Frost made a deal with his team: win every game and he will dye his hair blue.

But is Frost looking forward to that happening?

“No, not really,” he said. “But I would be glad to. It would mean we won a bunch of games.”

The Warhawks open the season Nov. 2 with a home against Southwest. Winning the game is the objective, but more important for the Warhawks is to achieve the season’s goal: to have fun.

“If we win every game that’s fine,” Frost said. “If we lose every game, that’s fine. As long as we get to know each other and have fun.”

Hanson looked forward to playing her first basketball game, but wasn’t ready to predict a Warhawk victory just yet.

“I wish I could say that,” Hanson said. “But it’s gonna be a good game.”