SAN ANGELO, Texas — On the back of Cornerstone Christian School T-shirts, they display the slogan “The future is now”. For the Girls Varsity basketball squad, a district title could be in their future with one more victory.
With a win on Tuesday night, the Lady Lions will be district champions for the first time since 2020. For guard Grace DeLaughter, the experience of winning a district title is not unfamiliar being that they last won during her freshman year, but a title this year would be a little bit sweeter.
“We are trying to accomplish being district champs, as our first step towards what we want to accomplish, but this would feel great," DeLaughter said.
The expectation laid out by first-year head coach Bri-Anna Soliz was a district title, and eventually, a state championship game. While some athletes would fold under the pressure of expectation, guard Mia Vega believes the acknowledgment of expectation has been a key to their success.
"It has definitely been a big encouragement. It encourages us to play better, to play free, to be us. It has been so great to know our coach believes in us," Vega said.
This newfound self-belief has come from not just coach Soliz, but also the mantra that the coach brought with her. The Lady Lions operate by not just "The future is now," but also, "Secure the bag". Those two sayings have brought a new repertoire of skills to the lives of each player for Cornerstone.
"She says "Secure the bag" which goes further than basketball. It goes on to our day-to-day life. To take advantage of these opportunities and be confident and be yourself, she has been special," Vega says.
Now the Lions full attention is turned to their next game against San Marcos Hill Country on Tuesday night. A district title would suffice for a team that expected that to be the end goal before the season began.
Yet, that is not enough for the Lady Lions. An undefeated district record, a district title, all of that is nice, but they want to hoist a state championship when it is all said and done.
"That (winning a state title) would be amazing. We were state champs my freshman year so it would be nice to end my senior year as state champs too. It is what we thought we could do. We gelled together well, we have practiced hard, it is what we have been working for,” DeLaughter said.
If Cornerstone's Lady Lions end up pulling out a victory, they will have an outline of what their playoff route will look like, as playoff action begins next week.