The middle basketball team played three different teams during the season; they played 8 games in total this season. They played Renaissance Charter School at Poinciana three times, Kissimmee Christian once, and then they played Ridgeview Global Studies Academy three times. The team finishes their season undefeated, winning all their games.  

“I am so excited about how are season went, we ended up going undefeated, we were 8-0 winning a championship,” Basketball Coach Kylie Root said, “At the beginning of the season that was our two goals, is to win every game and win a championship, and we accomplished both of those.” 

The last time the team won a championship was in the 2020 season, right before quarantine. Since then, they have been looking to add another trophy to the collection, but the attempts have been unsuccessful. Now that the team made some arrangements, they added a new banner to the gym. 

“The team has improved from last year, we got a couple new people to the team that added a much need it spark and help us defensively, which is how we won many of our games, it’s based on our defense, getting steals and making layups,” Coach Root said. 

The first game was a home game against Ponciana. From the beginning the Coyotes were dominant, taking the lead in the first quarter and never letting go, the final score being 21-4.  

“I feel relieved and good about this season,” 8th grader Brianna Carrion said, “The chemistry between the team is really good, like everyone is friends with each other. We work together and have good sportsmanship.”  

The first away game was at Ridgeview, it was the first time they would face each other this season. Ev

en though Ridgeview was giving up the fight in the first half, the Coyotes continued the momentum they had in the third quarter into the fourth scoring 8 points and only letting Ridgeview score 2 points, which made the final score resulted in 27-20.  

“I feel really good about the season, it was really fun to win a championship this season,” 7th grader Nyla Price said, “It means that we accomplished to finally reached that goal to win it, and it was really fun with all of my teammates.”   

The Coyotes verse Ridgeview for a fourth time. The team was in control in the first half, which ended with the score being 15-0. The team continued the motivation they had in the first half, into the second half, only letting Ridgeview score 2 points in the third quarter, and 4 points in the fourth quarter. Once the whistle blew the Coyotes were crowned champions, with the score resulting in 30-6.  

“I had a lot of pressure coaching in a final, because we have already played this team three times and it is hard to beat a team for a fourth time,” Coach Root said, “So, I wanted to make sure that I was calm, because I knew the girls were a little stressed out, they were overwhelmed, but I knew once we got one steal and one basket we would start rolling, and that’s exactly what happen.” 

The top three scores for the Coyotes were 8th grader Heaven Hawkins with 54 points in the season, 8th grader Briana Carrion putting 45 points in the season, and 7th grader Nyla Price with 33 total points in the season.  

“I’m going to miss how much we work together, all the new people I meet this year, and how good this season was,” Carrion said, “In order to keep the momentum going into varsity, is by still having the motivation with me and working hard.”