Stonewall Shooting for State Championship

Despite a new coach, a new crop of faces, and the departure of last year’s seniors, the Stonewall Jackson girls basketball team is in the running to be this year's state champions.

The Lady Raiders fell in last year’s state final to Princess Anne 65-39,  but the lopsided loss has not deterred the girls from continuing to play with the ultimate goal of winning a state championship.

Ryan Jordan is one of two seniors on the team. The power forward will be a guiding force for the Raiders. Jordan recently committed to Hampton University and looks to help the girls one up last year's team.

“As a senior, I’d like to lead my team to a state championship, but in order to get to such a point, we have to emphasize team chemistry-the feeling of family,” Jordan said.

The Lady Raiders also welcomed Diana Martinez as the team's  new head coach. Martinez knew heading into the season that there was a lot of work to do and it was not going to be easy.

The Raiders faced local powerhouse Forest Park and Woodbridge in a three-day span at the beginning of the season. Forest Park defeated the Raiders in Regionals last year, so the first  game was about more than a mark in the win column, it was a matter of revenge.

The fighting Lady Raiders came out on top against Forest Park in the season opener and then went on to beat Woodbridge to improve to 2-0.

Still, Martinez believes the girls are capable of doing better. “In our first two games, we came out on top, but we made the game harder than it needed to be," she said. "We found ourselves down at halftime in both games and had issues with turnovers [but] we found a way to recover and show our will."

The girls are currently 6-0(1-0) and are favorites to win their ninth consecutive District title.

“As a team, we can’t afford to take a break and coast. There must be a strong desire to win, which begins at practice,” Martinez said.

The team's motto is: "Day by day we get better, until we can’t be beat and won’t be beat."

The girls recite the words before every practice and game, and based on their record, it seems to working.

“This motto is going to be representative of our season. We can’t go into each game as the same player," Martinez said. "We want to see improvement and constantly becoming a stronger player and team,” she added.

Only time will tell if the Lady Raiders are able to obtain the coveted state title; but for now, their hard work and determination is paying off.