NECHES, Texas — The Neches Lady Tigers and a final four berth in San Antonio are almost synonymous.
For the fourth year in a row, they'll be representing East Texas in Class 1A at the state tournament for girls' basketball.
"We work pretty hard at it. We practice year-round, in the summer, in the offseason," junior forward Sealy Hines said. "We put in the dedication and we get the rewards for it."
Their achievement also came with another Neches staple on Monday afternoon. They hosted a community pep rally in their high school gym, with students, teachers and the athletes in attendance.
The kids screamed "Lady Tigers" and "State Champions" as the crowd cheered for their team.
"Having these amazing sendoffs and pep rallies makes you want to win even more because you want to make them proud," Hines said. "Not just yourself or the coaches, but you want to make the whole community proud for you.
The Lady Tigers have now made it to the state tournament in eight of the sixteen seasons with head coach Andy Snider leading the program.
He won three in a row at Neches from 2010 to 2012. However, even with multiple appearances since then, they're still looking for their first since that last one.
Snider knows the glorious feeling of winning it all. Now, he wants his girls on this team now, which have experienced the big stage multiple times, to finally get that feeling too.
"That's pushed them all the way through summer workouts and through the season. We've been saying all along, two more steps," Snider said. "We're at where we were last year, now we have two more steps. We don't want to just get to the finals, we want to win the finals."
Ranked number 16, the Lady Tigers have played a tough schedule to prepare them for the big moments ahead. Their first challenge in the semifinals on Thursday morning is a big one.
They'll take on number one ranked Turkey Valley, a team with not many weaknesses to match their stellar record. However, Neches brings the experience and desire to get further than they did the past few years.
"We've been the past few years and we only got to the state semifinals, but we're ready to take that extra step and go to the finals," junior guard Joely Jenkins said. "We're ready to win. We're about sick of bronze at this point, so we're all ready to go and pumped up about it."