After leading his team to an 86-65 win, coach Arsenio Richardson said there is still room to grow despite the 21-point margin.

“If we’re doing letter grades we’re probably at a B-,” Richardson said. “Defensively, we had a lot of lapses and a lot of confusion, but we had that effort. We just weren’t really locked in like we wanted to be.”

Park’s victory against New Prague marked the fourth win of the season breaking the team’s streak of two losses. Freshman Gabby Fadden said she believes although the team’s performance was better, it still has more room for improvement.

“We did really good but we definitely played a really easy team so we definitely could have done better,” Fadden said. 

Richardson said although the defense could have improved, he believes the team performed better than in past games. 

“We made some shots tonight and communication on defense was better,” Richardson said. “Even though our lack of focus wasn’t as great, our communication was a little better.” 

According to sophomore Kya Hegdahl, the team was able to benefit from the energy provided on its home court. 

“I think it was mainly just getting a home game because we’re on the road next week and most of the next weeks so I think we are excited to be home,” Hegdahl said. 

Despite winning by 21 points, New Prague still racked up 41 second-half points. Richardson said defensive work is going to be the main focus of their upcoming practices. 

“We got to continue to work on defense. We gave away too many points and way too many easy baskets,” Richardson said. “We just got to continue to work defensively. We have to be a defensive-minded team.”

Hegdahl said the team’s preparation doesn’t depend on its opponent, instead it just focuses on overall improvements. 

“A lot of games it’s about us and how we prepare ourselves, not just for the other teams,” Hegdahl said. “We just need to focus on ourselves and make sure we’re taking care of what we need to do.

According to Richardson, Park is preparing for their next game by analyzing the other teams’ weaknesses and advantages. 

“We’re gonna watch film, and then we’ll get on the floor, ” Richardson said. “We have all the opponents filmed so we’re going to continue to see what the strengths are, try to limit their strengths and then go from there.”

Park will have a chance to show its defensive improvements against Orono at 7 p.m. Jan. 11 at Orono High School.