Based on practice participation, you’d think the Ellwood Christian girls’ basketball team was undefeated or at least had a winning record going into the closing stretch of the season.

Just about every player was at Wednesday’s practice, listening intently as coaches J.B. Spears and Nate Brown walked through offensive plays and full court pressure defenses.

Those are the kinds of traits coaches value in winning teams, and the Eagles are hoping they eventually mean success for a program that hasn’t had much. Ellwood hasn’t won a girls’ basketball game in at least two years, including an 0-8 start to begin this season.

“We’re playing one or two quarters of ball instead of playing four,” Spears said. “This team, they’ve got to play four in order to get a win. We’ll play two quarters and we’ll be in the game, by the third or fourth quarter we’ll be out of it.”

Spears said Ellwood lacks hustle at times and loses confidence once it gets behind on the scoreboard. The Eagles have lost every game this season by double figures, some of them by lopsided scores.

Youth probably has a lot to do with that.

“We only have one senior, everybody else is in the tenth grader and below,” Spears said. “We’ve got two seventh graders and one eighth graders on the varsity team, so that one win would help them a lot. They got their first as a junior high team this year and it helped those girls out tremendously.”

With that kind of start to the year and that sort of recent history, many schools would struggle to get players on the team, let alone encourage them to come to practice. The Eagles aren’t giving up and basketball is the type of sport that always provides plenty of hope.

After all, every team in the state could still win the state championship, regardless of their regular season record.

With several area games left, this season could even still be about more than the search for one elusive win.

“It’ll mean a lot,” said senior Aiesha Franklin of what a victory would mean. “It’ll probably change the team around and make [us] work harder.”

Franklin has played for Ellwood the last two seasons, so she’s never won a game in an Eagles’ uniform. She has plans to change that before she graduates.

“We’ve got a chance to actually win some games,” she said. “Everybody just has to work together as a team.”

Arianna Withers, a junior, said the Eagles have lacked communication this year and it’s hurt them in big moments, but she sees the team improving. Now, she’s hoping to see that pay off on the scoreboard.

“I want us to get a win and change the history,” Withers said. “To me it honestly, it would up [young player’s] confidence and give them more reasons to play and not to give up.”

Ellwood will play at Autaugaville Friday night in an area game. If Ellwood wins, it’ll put the Eagles right back in the thick of the race in area 5 and most importantly, it’d end a drought that has now went on for hundreds of days.

“It would be like they won the state championship. I’m just being honest with you,” Spears said.

“They want it and they are getting close and like I said, they’ve just got to dig in and play a full game.”