Langham Creek’s girls basketball team (21-8, 8-2) is tied for second with Cypress Falls in District 17-5A with only four more games left until the playoffs.

The Lobos hope to make their second ever playoff appearance. In her eighth year, coach Annette Steward knows her team’s confidence will help achieve it.

“I feel that in the years past, we got down just because of the name of the school we were playing,” Steward said. “But this year is a whole different team and they’ve really stepped up to play. They have the confidence to play them (opponent) and beat them.”

A few years back, when only three teams went to playoffs, Langham Creek tied for third three years in a row and lost the tiebreaker each year. Last year was the Lobos’ first year to make the playoffs and they lost to Elsik in the first round.

“This year we’d like to make it further than that,” Steward said. “So for the next few weeks, we are just going to keep working hard and go for that playoff spot.”

Leading the Lobos are four starting seniors: Mercedes Johnson, Valerie Wood, Jahmilah Tyson, and Tiffany Jaecks.

“I expect them to step up and be leaders on and off the court,” Steward said, “and they definitely have.”

Langham Creek’s most recent win came Tuesday night over downstreet Cypress Springs. The Lobos had lost to Cy Springs twice earlier, at the Spring Branch ISD tournament and the second was in the first round of district.

The Lobos forced an overtime when Wood hit a three at the buzzer for the end of regulation. Then at the end of the overtime, trailing 47-44, Wood tried for a three again but was fouled. She made all three free throws and forced a second overtime. Langham Creek ended up winning 58-55 to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.

“This was a must-win game for us to stay close to the top of the district standings,” Steward told reporters after Tuesday's game. “It was also a game that said a lot about what this team can do under pressure. I couldn’t have written this any better.”

Steward said her team is playing the best defense they’ve played all year right now.

“It’s tough as a coach because you focus on offense so much but for them to step up and focus more on their defense is really paying off for them,” said Steward.

Langham Creek will play district leader Cy-Fair (28-2) on Friday. The Lobos lost to Cy-Fair in the first round.

“We’re going to try to change a few things from the first time we played them,” Steward said. “It’s really tough to play a team like Cy-Fair with the type of talent they have. We respect them a lot and we’re definitely going to give it our best shot. ...

“In this district, it always comes down to the last game, and our last game is Cy Falls,” Steward said. “Hopefully we can do what we need to do and take care of business.”

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