Red Bank girls' basketball coach Bailey McGinnis had her outfit picked out for today a few minutes after her Lady Lions beat Howard 39-23 on Wednesday.
It's a gray T-shirt.
But not just any shirt. It's one, trimmed in Red Bank school colors, that boasts the phrase, "Eight Strong."
The Lady Lions have played most of the season with eight players. They advanced to the second round of the District 6-AA tournament and will play at Brainerd tonight to continue their quest for a championship.
"We've got eight strong, and we've used that the entire season," McGinnis said. "That's us. We have to count on each other. And when it gets hard, we have to lean on each other."
Red Bank junior Jasmine Simpson led all players with 14 points Wednesday. Destanyla Rice led Howard with eight.
Simpson said she anticipates matching her coach's outfit in class today.
"'Eight Strong' means that's my family, those are my sisters and that's all we have," Simpson said.
Junior Dani Usher said, "Others gave up on us. We're eight strong because we all stayed together."
Red Bank led 9-8 after the first quarter, which ended about 24 hours after Red Bank beat the same team on the same floor by a score of 61-31.
The Lady Lions led 18-12 at halftime Wednesday.
"At the beginning we weren't as focused as we needed to be, but we refocused and pulled it off," said Usher, who scored six points. "We gave our hardest."
Red Bank limited Howard to five points in the third quarter and four in the fourth.
"It was tough to get going, and we came in thinking that we'd already won," McGinnis said. "So at halftime we had to get them back on track.
"It's an ugly win, but a win is a win, especially at this point."
The Lady Lions (7-21) eclipsed their total win total from last season which was one of their goals heading into the preseason.
"This being my first year, that's one of the goals I wanted to accomplish," "I want to celebrate. I wish we had a day to celebrate.
"There's a reason that there's eight who have stuck with it."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.