Ashlie Layman and Brielle Jungblut have been friends for about seven years. They've played basketball and softball together at Thomas Heyward and have developed a rapport.
So it's no surprise that they each believe this season's girls basketball team is good enough to win a SCISA Class AA state championship.
"We'd be disappointed in ourselves if we didn't," Layman said. "We really think we should go far."
"We are a really good team," Jungblut said.
The Rebels are confident because they return eight players from last season's team, which went 11-11 and lost in the first round of the Class AAA state playoffs. The playoff appearance was the school's first since 2006.
Since the team did not lose any players to graduation and has moved down in class, the Rebels began the season with high expectations, which is fine with them.
"If we are all playing our best game we can beat anybody," Jamie Malphrus said.
Malphrus, a 5-foot-10 sophomore forward, helped Thomas Heyward get off to a 5-1 start. She was the most valuable player of the Coca-Cola Classic and through the first four games she averaged 9.8 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game. Malphrus scored six points in Saturday's Warhawk Classic 38-37 championship-game win against Holy Hill.
Malphrus isn't a year-round softball player like Layman or Jungblut, but she kept herself in shape during the off-season by running.
Last week Layman and Jungblut praised Malphrus' hot start and noted they expect all their teammates to contribute.
Layman, a junior, was second on the team in rebounding (6.5 per game), Kayla Canavan was second in scoring (8.0 ppg), and Jungblut was first in steals (6.0 spg). Caitlyn Cooler and Canavan were among last season's top scorers.
"There's always one person who has their (top) games," Layman said.
"We don't need to depend on one person," Malphrus said.
Even though the team is confident, it thinks it plays its best when it takes an early lead. A very early lead.
"Once we make the first shot of a game, our heads are just in it," Layman said.
Jungblut said the first score is important because it instantly ignites the team and gives it "an adrenaline rush."
For Layman, basketball season gives her a little break from travel softball. She's been a nonstop softball player since she was 12, so she said she's used to going from sports season to sports season (she also plays for the school's volleyball team).
Layman's travel softball team doesn't compete again until February, so she's completely devoted to basketball.
"I am more focused on basketball," she said. "Now it's just basketball.
Thomas Heyward's region season begins in January and that's when the Rebels expect to play their best. That's also when they'll begin to work toward a high seed in the state playoffs.
The Rebels acknowledge they feel some pressure to do well because they want to meet the expectations of others.
"There's that pressure of we don't want to let people down," Malphrus said.
The Rebels were ranked third in the state last week according to a www.sc.prepcountry.com poll.
Maybe the team isn't overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed because they expect the same next year.
Thomas Heyward has five juniors and four sophomores but no seniors. They already know next year's senior class will be expected to do just as well or better than this year.
Jungblut, a sophomore, said she and Layman have already talked about how sad next year's going to be because the seniors will graduate.
Layman said a good thing about this year is knowing the team won't lose any seniors so "you don't have to be sad at the end."
"Next year they'll be even bigger expectations," Layman said.