Lady Mustangs senior facing higher expectations

As the Grapevine girls basketball team gears up for another season, the Lady Mustangs will be looking to Jessi Prater to help provide team leadership.

An all-district selection in 2015-2016, the Grapevine senior is a player that coach Lindy Slagle said brings a lot to the table.

“Jessi brings a great deal of strength and explosiveness around the basket with the ability to finish tough shots,” Slagle said. “She also has three-point range, so we can play her away from the basket when needed.”

Prater said that there have been some growing pains early on in the season, but added that she believes it will be beneficial to her and her teammates as the season moves on.

“This season is off to a rough start with having to play some super good teams early on,” Prater said. “But I think that this is giving us an opportunity to get better for even better teams in the long run.”

Grapevine won a district championship last season and advanced to the regional quarterfinals.

Prater said she has two major objectives for the season, one personal and one for the team as a whole.

“My goal for this season is to make first- or second-team all-district, and as a team we would like to make it to the regional tournament,” Prater said.

Prater plans to attend Paris Junior College to start her college career and said she feels the most important thing she can contribute to her team is a good attitude.

“I try to bring a positive vibe to our team, because we tend to play a lot better when everyone is being positive,” Prater said.

Slagle said she has some definite expectations from Prater this season that she believes are important if the Lady Mustangs are going to repeat on the kind of success they enjoyed in 2015-2016.

“Jessi is a senior now and a veteran varsity player,” Slagle said. “So we expect her overall game and leadership abilities to be elevated from last year.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2016 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Lady Mustangs senior facing higher expectations."