For the second consecutive season, the Goshen Eagles girls basketball team will make their way to the regional semifinals, which begin this afternoon in Montgomery.

The Eagles bounced back from their loss to Central in the Class 2A Area 6 championship when they defeated Thorsby on Monday. Now they turn their sights to Choctaw County.

“We are super excited for the opportunity that we have to go back to regionals,” said Goshen head coach Fred Lowery. “It’s the second year in a row for us and we are happy to have the opportunity to do it.”

The Eagles had their fair share of down times over the years, but with Lowery now in his second year with the program, the team is starting to look more like the Goshen teams from the past.  The Eagles have made it for the second year in a row, and with a win this afternoon, they will pass the mark of where they finished off last season.

“It means a lot,” Lowery said. “It says hard work pays off. You have to have hard work and good luck at times to be able to get us to where we are.  This means a lot to these kids and to the community for this to happen.  It speaks volumes about the kids that we have and the direction in which we are heading.”

The Eagles have grown up over the last few months according to Lowery and it came to a head when the Eagles bounced back in the sub-regional round on Monday.

“I think they have grown a lot and they are gelling at the right time of the year,” Lowery said. “It’s been a collective effort. They have grown to the point to where they are thinking like one another. Bree can push the ball down the floor and she automatically knows that Jada (Hall) is going to be open in the corner. They have grown and they know each other.”

The hope for the Eagles is they have grown since their loss in the regional semi-finals a year ago.

“I think the experience they got last year from playing a 2A powerhouse and being in that atmosphere in itself something they can learn from and take away from,” Lowery said.

The Eagles will begin play at 3 p.m. this afternoon at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.