Capital City’s girls basketball team is heading into its first-ever Jefferson Bank Holiday Hoops Tournament and will be hosting the tournament.
The Lady Cavaliers have started their third varsity season in school history with a 5-5 record and are coming off a big 71-67 win on the road last Tuesday against Eldon.
“That was a really good win,” Capital City head coach Ashley Agee said. “We were down in the first half and we made the necessary adjustments. Our girls battled hard and that was a win we really needed.”
The big win has the Lady Cavaliers going into hosting the big tournament with some momentum. The road to winning the tournament will not be easy though as they will start by playing Vashon (5-4) at 7 p.m.
“I think we have to be fundamental and play the way we know we have to,” Agee said. “We have to do the things that we do in practice and give them everything that we got to play at a high level for three days.”
The Lady Wolverines have not played since Dec. 14 when they went on the road and throttled Roosevelt 70-4. Vashon has been inconsistent to start the season, but good defense has been a staple for the team thus far, giving up only 37.1 points per game.
Capital City will have the advantage of all the games being on its home floor for this week’s tournament. Being able to play these games at home is a big deal for Coach Agee and her team.
“I think it means a lot,” Agee said. “We have a heavy road schedule this year so three extra games on our home floor is definitely a positive. I think it’s not only big for our team, but for our school and our community as well.”
Capital City has struggled in its first two seasons at the varsity level since its inception back in the 2019-20 season, but leaders are starting to form for the Lady Cavaliers.
“Leadership has been a big part of building this program,” Agee said. “Some of the girls are in their third season of playing varsity and have really started to take a leadership role. It has really started to show with leadership on the court and vocally in the locker room and at practice. They are buying into our system and it is really starting to show with results this season.”
One of these leaders is junior Natalie Allison who led the way for the Lady Cavaliers with 31 points in their win against Eldon.
Capital City will need some more big performances like Allison’s if it wants to make some noise this week.
“The biggest thing for us this week is learning that we have to play at a high level everytime we step on the floor,” Agee said. “Putting together three good efforts over 72 hours would be a big step for our team. If we can put together three-straight good preformances this week will show our team that we can do that any given night.”
Capital City will face either Jefferson City (0-7) or Hickman (8-1) Tuesday depending on the results from today’s game.