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St. Luke's girls see hard work pay off with No. 1 ranking

Ben Thomas | bthomas@al.com, January 22, 2013 11:26 a.m.

MOBILE, Alabama – The athletic teams at St. Luke’s took their lumps during the school’s first four years of existence.

Recently, however, it has been payback time.

The Wildcat baseball team made the state finals last spring, the football team hosted its first playoff game and reached the second round this fall and the boys’ basketball team already has clinched its first area title this winter.

Oh yeah … and the girls’ basketball team is currently ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 1A by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.

“We knew four years ago that we had potential,” St. Luke’s coach Christine Zoghby said. “Did I think we would be No. 1 in the state by this time? Probably not. There was talent here from the get go. We were just young and had a long road ahead of us.”

That long road has led to success this year.

The Wildcats have won 17 straight games since their only loss of the year to Class 4A No. 2 UMS-Wright and are now 21-1. They can clinch the 1A Area 1 title with a win at No. 4 Marengo on Friday. The Wildcats enter that game with a 7-0 area record.

A win Friday would mean both the St. Luke’s boys and girls would host their respective area tournaments – also a first in school history.

“That would be another step in the right direction,” Zoghby said. “We’ve talked all season long about our goals. Our biggest goal is to make it to Birmingham for the final four. This team is very motivated to get that done. We’ve got a chance.”

A key to success for the girls’ team – as it was for John Beverly’s football team – is the benefit of having senior leadership for the first time in the school’s short history.

Logan Smith, Monique Hawkins, Amy Cowling and Meagan Ivy have been with Zoghby from the start.

“Since Day 1 four years ago, we’ve tried to just build something each day,” Zoghby said. “We have looked at it – and still do – like we’re here to get better every single game.