The Lexington Wildcat girls basketball team is beginning its 2024-25 season looking to develop its young roster and reclaim the region championship in a conference the team has dominated the past few years.

Before last season, Lexington had won its region championship game in each of the past five seasons. But last year, the Wildcats finished 6-2 in the region, losing both its games and the region title to Dutch Fork. 

Lexington has its sights set on reclaiming the title and making it back to the postseason after losing in the first round to Dorman by a point last Spring. 

“We're always going to try to win the region championship, and that's our goal,” head coach Molly Goodrich said. “Just take it one game at a time and get better each time we step on the court. But yeah, we're gonna fight to win every time we step on the floor.” 

The Wildcats have a good balance of youth and experience. There are six freshmen and sophomores on the roster. 

“We're excited to grow this team. We're still somewhat young, but our goal is just to get better,” Goodrich said. 

A few experienced seniors are also on the roster and will be leaned on heavily this year as the younger players come along. 

Izzy Saville led the team in scoring last season and is back this year and expected to take another leap. 

 “She's a strong shooting guard for us. She is a captain and a good team leader,” Goodrich said. 

Another key returning senior is Charlize Misick-Rivas.  She missed all of last season with a torn ACL and will be a welcomed addition to the court this year. 

Junior Sydni Anderson will roam the paint for the Wildcats. Anderson is coming off a successful sophomore campaign where she averaged nine points and six rebounds while shooting almost 50 percent from the field. 

Julia Lytes is another junior returner looking to build off a positive sophomore season. Goodrich said she expects Lytes to be a consistent contributor on both ends of the floor. 

“Just a fiery defender and she's definitely going to look to score that ball,” Goodrich said. 

With these players and more, Lexington will look to push the pace and make teams run up and down the floor to keep up. 

The Wildcats began their regular season over the Thanksgiving break, winning their first two games by a wide margin. 

Lexington defeated Eau Claire 63-39 in their season-opener. Saville led the team with 15 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists. Anderson added 10 points and nine rebounds. Misick-Rivas contributed six points, seven rebounds, seven assists and seven steals. 

The team won its next game by an even wider margin, beating Greer 72-24. Saville led the team in scoring again with 16 points. Lytes finished with 12 points and three steals. Anderson had 10 points, nine rebounds and four steals. 

Last week, the team improved to 4-0 with wins over Cross Creek and Ridge View. 

While it is early in the season coach Goodrich said she wants to see her team execute well as a unit in these first few games. The team spent a lot of prep time focusing on rebounding and making sure its offense ran smooth. 

“Just play well together, read our offenses and get stops on defense. We're working a lot, really hard on boxing out, grabbing boards, so we can push the ball,” Goodrich said. “It should be like a well-oiled machine out there, and that's what we're working to put together.”