With a 30-1 season record to defend and a crowd of middle schoolers, the Coppell girls basketball team played aggressive defense against Flower Mound Marcus and put up several shots early on in the game, with Coppell junior point guard Julianna Lamendola scoring a 3-pointer two minutes in the first quarter. 

 Coppell never lost momentum against Marcus, collecting a 78-32 victory in District 6-6A play at CHS Arena on Tuesday.

“That [win] inspired me,” Coppell middle school North eighth grader Maggie Robiane said. “It showed me that, ‘oh wow’ I really want to be able to do that when I enter [high school].” 

The offensive advantage was evident as Coppell junior point guard Alyssa Potter and senior forward India Howard scored 10 points in the first three minutes, forcing Marcus into a timeout. The fast-paced gameplay combined with the intense energy of middle schoolers continued throughout the first quarter with Coppell leading, 32-8. 

With a turnaround jump shot during the second quarter, Coppell senior India Howard surpassed 1,000 career points for the Cowgirls. 

“I moved here from North Carolina, so I didn’t go to middle school [in Coppell],” Howard said. “When I was in middle school there was a [varsity] game we all went to just like how they do it here. I looked up like “these are the big dogs running around the court and I want to be them one day.”[When I made the point], I thought to myself, ‘I did it.”’ 

The night continued with several putbacks made by Howard and key defensive plays. The Cowgirls stayed consistent in scoring heading into halftime, 49-14. 

“When you get a milestone like that, it’s a lot of work over a long period of time,” Coppell coach Ryan Murphy said. “It all comes to fruition. [Howard] has come incredibly far from her sophomore year when she was averaging four points a game compared to this year where she’s averaging 15.” 

Coppell plays at Hebron on Friday at 6:30 p.m. 

“All the work the [girls] have put in over a long period of time is starting to pay off and now we’re getting to see the end result,” Murphy said. 

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