PLANO, Texas — For most high school coaches who compete at a competitive level, being undefeated would be enough.
For Coach Matt Wester and his Plano East Senior High basketball team, it's about winning the very last game: the state championship. The team boasts 11 seniors this year, which, in high school sports, is unheard of. Most of Wester's boys have come up from grade school camps and have been playing together for a long while.
"It's the best two hours of my day [coaching them]," said Wester. "One word I'd use to describe this team is 'brotherhood," he said.
Entering Friday night the Plano East basketball team is a perfect 31-0. They can lose their remaining slate of district games and still collect the district championship.
"We know what kind of team we have. We just want to leave our mark here," said point guard Rachard Angton.
The high-octane, up tempo and hard-nosed defensive team would be considered under-sized by most elite high school standards. But their cohesion on the court and brotherhood off the court helped them against the against the state's best teams.
"We pass the ball and we run fast...and score the first chance you can score," said Wester.
Plano East is ranked number one in the state. They are also in the top echelon of teams nationally. And while coach Wester is proud of that, he is more proud of the brotherhood and the fact that nine of his seniors have 4.0 GPAs.
"Obviously we pay attention to [the ranking}. It's cool because that's what people talk about," said power-forward and center Seth Romero.
While going undefeated would be awesome, the team wants to win the state championship. The last time that happened in the district was with Plano West in 2015. Plano East plays at Hebron Friday night at 7:30 p.m.