The Woodrow Wilson girls basketball team is the 12-5A district champion (photo by Russ Kelemen).
It’s been 28 years since the Woodrow Wilson girls basketball team was district champ, but the long wait is over. The 2018 team went 11-1 in district play this season to capture the first championship since 1990.
The 1990 Woodrow girls basketball team attended the final game of the season Tuesday night to celebrate the team’s achievement.
Third-year head coach Elizabeth Schubert researched the records and found that the two teams are the only girls basketball teams ever to win district for Woodrow.
After being a part of the coaching staffs for teams at Bryan Adams High School and Lincoln High School and going to the state championship games, Schubert achieved her dream of being a head coach at Woodrow Wilson. Schubert is from Plano and played Division 1 basketball at Sam Houston State. Even though she has the resume to entice suburban schools, she says she prefers schools like Woodrow.
“These kids want to play and love the game,” she says. “If they make my team, I will teach them the love of the game.”
After finishing in the top three of the district for the last two years, the team won most of its games by 20 points this season.
The team is led by junior Ixsamar Gonzalez, who averages a double-double and is fifth in the area for rebounds, and senior Catherine Renneker, whose assists and defensive presence anchor the team. Standout freshman Isabel Crow had 57 three-pointers during the season.
Even though Woodrow lost the game on senior night Tuesday, the reunion of the 1990 team made the evening festive.
Francis Hansen, whose two sons attend Woodrow, was captain of the 1990 team during her senior year. She says she has fond memories of her time at Woodrow. “I haven’t seen most of these girls in 28 years,” she says. “We were really diverse and from different backgrounds, but we were a close knit group.”
The 1990 district champion team photographed in 1990 (photo courtesy of Erin Shreiner)
The 1990 district champion team in 2018 (photo by Russ Kelemen)
The reunion included women who came from out of state as well as the team’s coach, Linda Poston. “If kids couldn’t get to practice, she made sure they got there,” Hansen says. “She really pushed us and made it a family.”
Schubert echoes the family atmosphere as they head to the playoffs. “They are the best daughters I have ever had.”
The team will play in the first round of the playoffs Monday at Forester Stadium against Samuell High School at 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. Check the school calendar for more details.
