Senior Tejah Hayden said the communication both on and off the court is what allowed the team to come out on top in their game against Bloomington Kennedy.

“Our energy on the bench and our communication on the court definitely helped us perform and come together as a team,” Hayden said.

Sophomore Shayla Miller said talking on court along with quicker offensive plays led to the teams success.

“We were talking more than we have in the past and we were making good passes, especially at the end. Also, just making sure the offensive kept moving (helped),” Miller said.

Head coach Arsenio Richardson said the bench is one of the key elements in keeping the team engaged and successful.

“About ninety percent of our wins are because the bench is involved throughout the whole game. When the bench is not involved, the girls are not locked in, and we end up struggling,” Richardson said. “We need the energy, because we don’t get a ton of student support, so we need the energy from the girls that are here.”

Sophomore Shayla Miller said the bench is a key factor for the whole team as Junior Varsity and other players can still actively contribute off the court.

“We have been focusing on making sure the bench is engaged and stays in it and especially for girls that don’t always get in, just to like keep up the energy. Everyone being focused and engaged helped encourage everyone to stay in it,” Miller said.

Richardson said the team is doing better with improvement in shot selection and aim.

“Our strengths were shooting and free throws. Overall our team is starting to gel, and everyone’s picking each other up,” Richardson said.

Richardson said the hard work throughout the whole game contributed to the great performance and win against Bloomington Kennedy.

“We came out hard and played aggressively. (Bloomington Kennedy) are a heck of a team and they got a lot of offensive rebound,” Richardson said. “Overall I’m happy that we had a little more toughness and we came out with the win.”

Richardson said he can see  improvement in each player over the course of the season.

“Of course we prepare, but we’ve still got one more regular season game. It’s what we do all year to be ready in March and to be playing our best. I can say we definitely are a better team now than we were in November,” Richardson said

Richardson said with all the hard work put into the season, the girls should perform well in their last game of the season before Sections.

“The goal is to be the best in March as we roll into the sections game, it’ll be here for the first time at home in I don’t know how long so that’s going to be huge,” Richardson said

The teams next game is 7 p.m. Feb. 23 against Benilde-St. Margarets at St. Louis Park.