Austin Nicholson is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Phoenix Country Day School for AZPreps365.com

Although Phoenix Country Day is the Metro Region champion and a top-four seed in the upcoming 2A state playoffs, coach Sean Newland believes his team is not getting the respect it deserves.

“I really feel like we haven’t gotten a lot of love,” Newland said. “I think the girls feel like they have to go out there and prove themselves every single night that they play.”

He embraces the underdog role.

“We’re going out and giant hunting,” Newland said. “We’re the David and going up against the Goliath; we want to prove that we belong.” 

Phoenix Country Day begins its quest to capture a state title for the first time in 20 years on Friday at Prescott.

The Eagles put an exclamation point on a 18-1 regular season Friday night when they defeated Scottsdale Christian 43-31 to win the region.

Senior Natalie Lewis led the way with 10 points. “We played Scottsdale Christian a couple times already, and those games were closer,” Lewis said. “But I think this time we found a good zone offense.”

Newland said his team needs to focus on passing. “Sometimes we forget those fundamentals, which leads to easy possessions for the other team,” Newland said. “I think that when we pass with confidence and utilize pass fakes we can beat [anybody].”

Freshman Nara Kaibara said she likes PCDS’s chances because of the team’s chemistry. “I feel pretty good about it; we have a solid team this year,” Kaibara said. “Everyone has a good connection on the court, even the players who are sitting on the bench.”

Newland, however, knows that anything can happen and wants his players to not be overconfident.

“[We need to] forget about the rankings,” Newland said. “Everyone is going to be prepared, so we need to be ready to play.”

Last year’s first-round loss to Alchesay was a hard one to swallow. Phoenix Country Day battled until midway through the third quarter. The Eagles ran out of gas because their starters played the vast majority of the game. Newland is determined to not make the same mistake this year.

“What I learned is that we needed to create depth, and I think we’ve done that,” Newland said. “In the offseason, I challenged a few of our girls that were bench players to really step up this year.”

Those players accepted the challenge and are now part of a nine-player rotation that has played a huge role in the team’s success.