Coming from a loss last Friday 50-36 against Flower Mound [11-10 overall, 1-0 in district], the Lady Farmers [10-8, 0-1] will be playing Marcus [16-2, 1-0] here tonight at 7 p.m.

Marcus is ranked 5th in the state in class 5A according to Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. This is the team’s second district matchup and the Lady Farmers have to beat out two other teams in the district to make playoffs. Currently, Lewisville is ranked 4th in district, ahead of Coppell and Denton Ryan.

“[To make playoffs we are] taking it a game at a time,” head coach Charlotte Jones said. “Making sure we play every game hard, playing to win.”

Last season the Lady Farmers [6-25]  fell to Marcus [30-8], 61-22 on the road, and 57-35 at home.

“We’re going to go out there harder than normal because we know its our rival and we want to beat them,” senior Monisha Neal said.

Coming off the loss against Flower Mound, the team has been doing shooting drills in practice to improve their shooting percentage along with putting in extra work outside of practice.

“I have a backyard with a basketball court, I’ve been out there shooting,” sophomore Naomi Hawkins said. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, writing some goals down, listening to music trying to get pumped because it is a big game right here.”

Hawkins led the team with 10 points in the loss to Flower Mound. But she said she knows she’s depended upon for a good all-round game.

“[My goals are to] get at least 10 to 12 rebounds,” Hawkins said. “I’ve got to score because I know they depend on me. They’ve been depending on me for a while now, so I’ve got to step up and do my role.”

With a winning record heading into district, the team is ahead of where they were at this time last season.

“With this group of girls, they help each other out by teaching and I love that,” Jones said. “They motivate and encourage each other. This makes a coach’s job much easier.”

Fernanda Galera contributed to this story.