CORPUS CHRISTI - It's been 13 years since Incarnate Word Academy's girl's basketball team made it the Region Finals. That means even the oldest girls on the team were barely four the last time IWA was this good.
"I don't even know what I was doing when I was four," said Madison Longwell with a big grin on her face. "I know my parents wanted me to play basketball, but I didn't start till I was like in 3rd grade."
(28-10)The Angels have reeled off 11 straight wins and now just need one more to advance to the TAPPS 4A State Tournament. Standing in their way is Austin St. Dominic Savio, a team who they have a history with, as the two have already played twice with IWA winning both games.
"It's really exciting, we've come a long way, even my freshman year we were 0-8 in district. To go from that to district champs two years in a row - we've been working really hard," said Guard Madison Longwell.
"We're a very humble team and I think we do a good job of playing for each other and for Coach Smith," said Maggie Pesek.
IWA also believes there are advantages and disadvantages in playing the same team three times. For instance, they know how Savio plays, but then again Savio knows how they play.
"We just have to go out there and play our game and play how we know how to play and hopefully come out with the win," said Bianca Valderrama.
The key to success for this team is playing together, no one player is more important than the next.
"No one player is crucial to the team. It's working together that will allow us to win," said Ashley Zawicky.