The Fairfax girls’ basketball team had a great season last year, but it ended after a loss in the first round of the CIF City Section Division I playoffs to Dorsey High School.

Fairfax High School girls basketball coach Judi Edwards said the team has the talent this year to go all the way. (photo by Rafael Guerrero)

“It was a game we should have won,” said Judi Edwards, head coach for Fairfax High. “But they looked past Dorsey because they beat them earlier in the year in a scrimmage and it cost us the game.”

The loss may prove to serve a greater purpose, as the Fairfax Lady Lions have stormed to a 20-7 record this season, including an 8-0 Western League record. The young, athletic team has a chance to win the first Western League title for Fairfax High since the 2003-04 season.

“That ‘03-‘04 team was one of the best teams I’ve ever had,” said Edwards, who has coached the Fairfax Lady Lions for 21 years and won her only City Section title in 2006-07.

But Edwards said this team has the talent to end the six-year drought and do some damage in the playoffs.

“This year’s team is so special,” Edwards said. “They are very quick and athletic. Our length on defense makes us very tough to deal with.”

Leading the way for the Lady Lions is sophomore John’ea Thompson, who leads the team in scoring this season. The sophomore power forward has averaged 12.3 points per game and has also been a force on the glass, averaging 7.3 rebounds per game. Edwards had high praise for her leading scorer, both for her talent and her maturity as a player.

“She is very strong in the paint for us and a real force,” Edwards said. “She has also matured as a basketball player.”

Edwards added that Thompson was “very emotional” during her freshman season and let mistakes affect her too much. She said Thompson would miss a shot and then get “pouty,” which would then lead to her committing a foul on the defensive end instead of playing smart defense. But Thompson matured and got more athletic in the offseason and it showed by averaging double-digit points and rebounds early in the season. Thompson rolled her ankle in the Lady Lions’ 76-44 victory against Venice High School Monday, causing her to miss Wednesday’s game against University High School. But Edwards is hopeful Thompson would be able to return for Friday’s pivotal game at Palisades High School, which is tied for second place in the division.

“It’s going to take a good tape job by me, but we are hoping she can give it a go,” Edwards said.

Although Thompson may be the best player on the team, there is plenty of talent to be found at the other positions. Brittany Byrd is a junior forward who was named team captain at the beginning of the year despite getting very little playing time last season.

“It was a big transition this year,” Byrd said. “I barely got any playing time at the beginning of last year but I worked up a lot of determination and motivation to get to the top spot.”

Edwards said Byrd is a very well rounded player this year. She averaged 10 rebounds per game at one point in the season to go along with seven assists per game. She also leads the team in steals, averaging three per game.

Danah Haley is another player who can light up the scoreboard. The six-foot-one junior was named the player of the week by Edwards earlier this month when she averaged 14.6 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and 1.6 blocks during a three-game stretch where the Lady Lions won each game by an average of nearly 30 points per game.

Perhaps the most important part of the Lady Lions’ offense is point guard Angelique McDaniel. What the five-foot-three junior lacks in size, she makes up for in other ways.

“She may look little on the court,” Edwards said. “But she can jump and attack the basket.”

McDaniel said she understands her role as the point guard is to make her teammates better and set the tempo on offense.

“Everything I do is designed to make everybody on the team better,” McDaniel said.

Most of the girls on this year’s team were present for the disappointing loss to Dorsey and the memory of the defeat has served as motivation for this year’s success.

“We were very young last year,” Edwards said. “But they have used that loss to gain confidence and to help them to better prepare mentally and emotionally.”

Byrd remembers the loss vividly.

“It was heartbreaking hearing the crowd chant ‘Dorsey!’ and ‘D-House’ when it’s clearly all about Fairfax,” Byrd said. “We learned that we have to leave it all out on the floor every game because we want it more than the other team.”

Haley also said the loss may have served a greater purpose in helping the team mature.

“We learned a lot from that loss,” Haley said. “We all had to pick it up and play better and that is never going to happen again.”

Haley also said this team can win the league championship and McDaniel added that league title is the goal for this team. Byrd did not stop there, saying they expect to compete for the City Section championship, not just a league title. Edwards said they definitely have what it takes and staying undefeated in the Western League would go a long way in helping the team achieve its ultimate goal.

“It’s important for us to finish undefeated in the league so we can have that confidence and momentum going into the playoffs,” Edwards said.