The Lady Bison basketball team may be small in numbers, but they are big in heart.

Led by head coach Dwayne Morrow with captains Taylor Royster, Paige Safenovitz and Maurina Nunn, the Lady Bison are 8-9 after a recent loss to West Geauga.

While they may have lost their last game, there have been many highlights from the season that make the season more memorable than their .470 win percentage might suggest.

“The highlight of the season so far was our team performance against Villa Angela St. Joseph,” sophomore captain Taylor Royster said.

Beachwood faced off against Villa Angela St. Joseph earlier in the season in a nail biter that ended with a Bison win in double overtime.

“Our highlight as a team was definitely our win against VASJ, and personally, I had a really good game when I came back from my ankle injury,” junior captain Paige Safenovitz said.

Head coach Dwayne Morrow is proud of the team’s accomplishments both on and off the court.

“The highlight of the season for me was the volunteering we did during the holiday food and toy drive,” Morrow said.

Additionally, multiple players on the team are being considered for recruitment at the college level.

“We have five seniors and two of them play other sports,” Morrow said. “This year, Maurina Nunn has two offers from Malone College and University of Tuskegee.”

“I’d play college basketball if I’m lucky enough,” Safenovitz said. “Right now I have looks from Ohio Wesleyan, West Virginia State and Trinity International.”

“I have looks from many colleges,” Royster continued, “I have not made a decision yet, but I have looks from Akron, Alabama A&M and Niagara.”

While the Lady Bison do have a lot of talent on their roster, they realize they still have a lot to improve on.

“We need to work on knowing our roles. We sometimes get mixed up without listening during games, and sometimes we miss too many layups and foul shots,” Royster said.

“We need to work on ball movement and communication in games,” Safenovitz said.

Coach Morrow had his own points for improvement.

“We need to work on focusing on the game at hand and having better flow on offense,” he said.

Every team has improvements to make and that is part of the game, but Morrow feels that what makes the team great is how they play when they face adversity.

“I like coaching this group because of the fact that we are an undersized team but we play for each other and don’t back down from anyone,” he said. “The only negative from this season is having the low numbers… Most high school teams have more players than we do.”

“We have a lot of fun with each other, we all work hard for each other, and we are all friends,” Safenovitz said.

Coach Morrow and the Lady Bison want to see what they can accomplish in the post-season.

“We are looking forward to a very deep playoff run,” said Safenovitz.

Coach Morrow is confident as well.

“We believe we can make a big push in the playoffs this season,” he said.

Morrow is also looking ahead, looking to leave a legacy at Beachwood.

“I look forward to help rebuild the Beachwood program and improve a lot in the years to come,” he said.