If there鈥檚 any team that can reload, eschewing the negative connotation of a 鈥渞ebuild,鈥� the Flagstaff girls basketball team is high on the list.
The Eagles need to make quick work of the process, though, as the winter season began this week.
Flagstaff graduated nine seniors from last year鈥檚 roster, many of whom were contributors to the 2023 4A championship and 2024 semifinal run. Now, it鈥檚 up to a new group to maintain the team鈥檚 dominance in the region and hopefully play deep into the state tournament again.
鈥淭he cupboard鈥檚 not empty, there鈥檚 room to grow and we need to make improvements. But it鈥檚 fun to see the potential,鈥� coach Tyrone Johnson said.
The Eagles fell at home to Eastmark, 46-42, on Monday evening in the season opener.
Eastmark defeats Flagstaff 46-42
— Eric Newman (@enewmanwrites)
Senior Teagan Martin, who led the team with eight points, hit a layup to put the Eagles up 39-38 with 5:40 left to play. Martin is the top returning scorer, having averaged 6.9 points per game in the 2023-24 campaign.
Behind her was Teriise Lancaster, who transferred out of Flagstaff for her sophomore year. Junior Carter Edison averaged 3.4 points off the bench as a sophomore and will likely be used plenty this season.
After Martin鈥檚 basket on Monday, the Eagles failed to get the necessary stops to hold off the Firebirds.
Junior Lexi Neal started at the point guard spot in the game, scoring seven points. Down 44-39, she got a steal and a basket to trim the deficit to 44-41 with 1:07 remaining. That was as close as it would get, though.
Senior Kyleigh Walker added six points on a pair of 3-pointers.
While disappointing to open the season with a loss, Johnson believed it can be a lesson for the new-look squad.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a bunch of new faces, a bunch of inexperience at the varsity level,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good to play quality competition and not get a false sense of where we are early in the season,鈥� he said.
What did the Eagles learn?
鈥淓specially these early games, I try not to be too controlling of the game. I try not to use a lot of timeouts, try to let the girls figure it out and see who鈥檚 going to step up in a leadership role and who鈥檚 going to be productive,鈥� he said. 鈥淭onight we learned a lot about ourselves that we see we鈥檙e not in the best shape we need to be in to play the style we want. We鈥檝e definitely got to be more consistently defensively and in our offensive execution. And girls, when they get the opportunity, have got to maximize it.鈥�
Flagstaff was set to host Mesquite on Tuesday, for another difficult home game. The Wildcats knocked the Eagles out of the state tournament last year and were the 4A runners-up.
Johnson and the Eagles will try to 鈥渇ormulate an identity鈥� with the rest of the non-region schedule, and then attempt to win another Grand Canyon Region title.
Following Tuesday鈥檚 contest, the Eagles were scheduled to host 6A opponent Westview on Dec. 3.