Staff photo / Dan Hiner Girard’s Caylee Wilkes goes up for a layup during the third quarter of a game against Poland on Feb. 10 at Poland Field House.

For the first time in 20 years, Girard’s girls basketball program is outright league champions.

In his second year at the helm, Girard coach Joe Bornemiss helped guide the Indians to a Northeast 8 crown with a 9-3 mark in league play, and currently sit 13-10.

“The girls know that it’s about playing together, playing as a family, playing as one, and putting those numbers up on those banners,” Bornemiss said. “That’s what I coach for. To give them life lessons off the court, try to teach them the right things to do off the court, and then when they’re on the court, they know that we’re there for a reason. We want to do the best we can and give ourselves a chance in every game.”

Girard finished just a game shy of the league crown last season. But the Indians took their lumps and came back stronger this year.

“I don’t know if we really understood the importance of league games last year,” Bornemiss said. “I mean, they knew we were in league games, but sometimes we treated them just as normal games. I think the girls really bought into the program, realized the importance of every league game, no matter who it was and knew they had to be prepared for them and ready to go.”

It was a bit of a rocky start to the season without senior Makenzee White, losing each of the team’s first three games, but her return in a December game against Niles gave the team some added juice going forward.

While averaging 10.5 points-per-game and a team-high 6.5 rebounds-per-game, her competitiveness may be the most important skill she’s brought to the team this year.

“She’s been real important,” Bornemiss said. “She was banged up, her ankle was messed up at the beginning of the year, and she tried hobbling through it when we played South Range down there for the first game (against the Raiders). She was basically playing on one foot. The girls see that, our younger girls see that. They see how she battled through injury, wanted to be on the floor, wanted to be a competitor, and that rubs off on those younger girls, because we’re relatively young still. With just (White) as the lone senior, those younger girls, they see that. They see her working, coming to practice every day, grinding through and that matters. That turns a lot of heads.”

In addition to turning heads, it’s also created an environment of tough kids who can handle just about anything thrown at them.

Pair that with a brutal schedule of both conference and non-conference games, including games against West Branch, Columbiana and Mineral Ridge, and the Indians think they’re battle-tested.

“Hard working girls. The way we play and the way we’ve trained them, you have got to be mentally tough,” Bornemiss said. “We always talk about being mentally tough for how they play and press the whole game and do the things that we’re asking them to do. We challenge them to be in the best condition that they could possibly be in. They are just a mentally tough group of girls.”

The tough schedule has only made them prepared as the games get tougher. The Indians look to get their third win over South Range this season, this time in the tournament. Start time is set for 7 p.m. at South Range High School.

It’s tough to beat a team three times in one season. Each team has a pretty good idea of what’s coming their way and how to counter it. For Girard, pulling off the season sweep, as well as keeping its season alive, will come down to fundamentals.

“If (White) and Brooke Perry rebound the ball like they can rebound, it’ll give us a good chance to be in the game in the fourth quarter. We feel confident that we can match up man-to-man against them and do what we want to do defensively, just like I’m sure they’re confident. If we get on the boards, and we can get out and push the ball with (Aly) Gassman and (Caylee) Wilkes, we’re gonna give ourselves a really good chance in that fourth quarter.”