Mother McAuley hopes to add state basketball title

The girls from Mother McAuley take on St. Francis De Sales on Thursday night.

Mother McAuley is undefeated and top-ranked by maxpreps in this early season.

Head Coach Ashley Clanton's team plays a good team game led by good outside shooting by Jenna Badali and the solid game of Grace Hynes.

The school, known mainly for their powerhouse volleyball program with 12 state titles, would like to add to their one on the basketball side this year.

"We're proud of our volleyball program," Clanton said. "We're trying to follow their lead a little bit and get basketball back on a roll here. Be excited to hang one up but we're a long ways from there, we've got a lot of work to do."

Clanton said her team's strength is the player's ability to play together.

"We're strong because each individual player is playing at their max potential, and that happens pretty much every night that we go out. It's a mature group. They understand what makes us good," Clanton said. "They know we can't go on the floor and go half throttle and pull something off. So they know they've got to go full boat and they believe in that and believe in each other and I think that's what makes them a fun team to watch."