East Hamilton Girls Basketball Team Enjoying Impressive Turnaround This Season

Chattanooga-(WDEF) Just two short years ago, the East Hamilton girls basketball team lost 23 games in one season.
This year they’re on track to win 23 games.
New head coach Tony Williams has seen the ‘Canes win 22 games this year after back-to-back losing seasons.
The low point for East Hamilton came last season against Bradley Central when they lost by 68-points.
Said guard Kyndall Caudle-“I was just really ready for the season to be over at that point. It did not feel good at all.”
In comes new head coach Tony Williams, who had his girls buckle down on defense.
Said Williams-“I felt like with our athleticism that was one thing we could fix first, and fix it pretty quickly. We have foot speed. We have quickness.”
Said forward Destyne Black-“Now he really doesn’t have to tell us to emphasize defense. We just kind of go out there and do it. It’s kind of like natural to us now.”
Said forward Madison Hayes-“It gets us in a groove every time when we steal something. It gets us in a click, and we keep on going.”
With their amped up defense, East Hamilton lost by only four in their first game against Bradley back in December.
Said Williams-“We had a New Year’s one word resolution. Ours was belief. These kids believe, and they do it together.”
Coach is also showing a lot of belief in Madison Hayes, who happens to be the youngest player on the team.
Reporter-“And would you repeat what grade you’re in again?”
Laughs Hayes-“I’m in the 8th grade.”
Added Williams-“She just comes to work every day and just works as hard as she can possibly work. She’s easy to like, and everybody just loves her to death.”
And everybody loves a winner, even if you’re running late for class.
Said Caudle-“I walked in, and I was like oh my gosh, she’s going to count me tardy. I’m going to have a detention or something. Then I saw everyone clapping for me. I said what are they clapping for? She was like for your 11 game winning streak. I was like, oh okay. And then I was like, am I still in trouble? Do I get a pass?”