The junior varsity girls basketball team continues to work hard during practices after a good start, bringing home a win on its first preseason game.

After several months of practice, Birmingham Community Charter High School’s junior varsity girls basketball team played its first preseason match against Saint Bonaventure High School on Nov. 29, winning 43-22.

“So far it’s pretty good,” sophomore Keona Paniagua, junior varsity player who plays as a shooting guard. “It’s my second season playing so I wasn’t too nervous. I’ve been getting a lot of points and we’ve been winning games. My stats for that game was 8 points, 13 rebounds, 6 steals and 3 assists. I need to work on my ball handling.”

Their next preseason game was against Van Nuys High School on Dec. 6. With a win on their first game, the team is doing relatively well and continues to strive for improvements.

The team usually practices for two hours every weekday and since the start of season, practice is emphasized more on strategic play rather than the typical runs and drills for conditioning. Junior varsity Coach Devon Berry also makes them play on certain positions and situations in order to train the members on managing the scenarios and performing techniques. Although skill training and performances have shown positive results, many improvements are still to be worked on, such as communication.

“We lack on communication,” Paniagua said. ”Our point guards don’t call up the plays and when that happens, we don’t know where to go, we’re not on the right spots so then there are breakdowns on the defense.”