ZIONSVILLE, Ind. — The girls' high school basketball season is heating up, and in Class 4A, the team to beat is the Zionsville Eagles.
They've been crushing the competition and have an 18-1 record so far.
They're on a mission.
This team has the "it" factor. Unselfish, high-energy players, and it's evident during practice.
The Eagles are making an early statement by rattling off 18 consecutive wins before they finally lost in Noblesville.
They're led by 6-foot, 1-inch Laila Hull, one of the top players in the state. She's averaging 22 points per game while cranking out a 3.8 grade point average. 13Sports asked Hall abut her being mentioned in the Miss Basketball conversation.
"It means a lot," she said. "I mean, you know, it's just, it's kind of a big thing, being considered, like, one of the best in the state and being Miss Basketball, just being able to represent the state for basketball. It would be an honor if I do get it."
She's already landed her childhood dream of a college scholarship. She'll play basketball at North Carolina next year, but she has work to finish here first. We asked Hall what it would mean for the Eagles to hoist a championship banner this season.
"It would be awesome. I mean, it would be, I think, maybe the first one that [the girls' team] had," Hull said. "Yeah, I mean, that would be amazing. I mean, you can really doubt us, can't say much bad about about us if we won a state title."
Hull and her teammates are focused on getting that banner for coach Andy Maguire. He has built this program from the ground up. He said he'd also like to see the team achieve their championship objective.
"That would be awesome," Maguire said. "I mean, that's their goal. We made a mission statement at the beginning of the year, and they had some really high goals and, you know, we still have some really tough games ahead of us. Our sectional is loaded."
This team is ready for the next big challenge come tournament time, whatever it takes.