By Matt Browning

The Maize South girls basketball team was named the Visit Wichita Team of the Month for November. The Mavericks went just 11-10 last season, but return a significant amount of talent, including first team all-league selection, Avery Lowe.

“We return an extremely hungry group who feels they have unfinished business from last year,” head coach Ben Hamilton said. “Coming off a strong summer of improvement and hard work, our coaching staff looks forward to working with this group for four months of basketball. Our expectation will be daily improvement through high level effort and focus each day in all we do.”

Hamilton has a clear vision as to what Maize South has to do to fulfill its goal of being its best come February, which will hopefully lead to a state tournament appearance. 

“This season, we will put a big emphasis on valuing each possession and winning the rebounding battle,” Hamilton said. “Offensively, we will focus on our execution, ball security, and shot selection to get the looks that best benefit our team this year. We will embrace those willing to be relentless on the offensive and defensive glass as we continue to stress the value of this for our team’s success.”

One of the best attributes of the Mavericks this season, and one that will benefit Hamilton’s ability to coach, is how they can play varying styles of basketball.

“This year’s group will consist of a more athletic team with the ability to play at different pace throughout games,” Hamilton said. “Our coaching staff feels this could be one of the better defensive teams we have had in the past few years if we can stay healthy.”