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The Charles Henderson Lady Trojans rode into the holiday break undefeated on the season and number one in Class 5A. Despite the amount of success, head coach Dyneshia Jones is not satisfied as area play looms.

The Trojans jumped into the number one spot in last week’s Alabama Sports Writer’s state rankings with a 12-0 record.

“We are still undefeated so things are good,” Jones said. “We are playing as a team.”

Ever since Jones became the coach of the Trojans, she has preached the importance of team basketball. Despite having key scorers in the past, the Trojans routinely have multiple players that can score the basketball and this season is no different.

“We don’t have one person on the team that scores,” Jones said. “It’s hard to guard us when we have multiple players that know how to score.”

The connection that players have with each other is a result of the familiarity they have with each other. Many of the players have been playing together since middle school. The players also know coach Jones’ system and they know what it takes if they want to be successful.

“They have playing for me for a while so they understand,” Jones said. “It’s not just offense, it’s defense also. The defense makes you better on offense when you’re scoring in transition. It’s understanding what I want and how other players play. Adjusting to the other players.”

Despite having a strong transition game, Jones would like to see her players fine-tune it a bit as they enter the 2020 portion of their schedule.

“Just spreading out more in transition,” Jones said. “Pushing the ball after every defensive rebound.”

The Trojans have three seniors on the team in Niaira Jones, Samira Moore and Mykyia Milton, all of whom have contributed this season. But it’s not just them. The Trojans have gotten production out of many players including freshmen Makala Hobdy and Deanna Gosha.

“Makala is definitely one of them,” Jones said. “I have another freshman in Deanna Gosha who is improving as the days progress. I’m going to be losing three seniors this year, so it’s important for them to learn how to adjust to any type of defense and understand my offense.”

The Trojans will return to the court on Friday, January 3 when they travel to take on the Greenville Tigers.

“Area play is important,” Jones said. “Our goal is to hopefully host the area tournament. There is nothing like playing at home. It’s important to set the tone and hopefully win them all so there isn’t any stress in the area tournament.”