This winter break, San Luis Obispo High School’s girls varsity basketball team was ballin’ hard, playing in two different tournaments while everyone else was preparing for the season’s biggest holiday.

The team participated in a tournament hosted at Santa Barbara High School which ran from December 20 to 23. These ballers then had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off before they come back for a day of practice. The work doesn’t stop with just one tournament though, as the Lady Tigers are currently battling their way through the Ayala High School Best of the West Tournament in Chino Hills, just outside of Anaheim. This tournament will run from December 27 to 30, and the team will return to practice on New Year’s Eve Day in preparation for League starting on January 3.

“Ball is life,” said freshman team member Riley O’Connor.

So while most people were bundled up in front of their gas fireplaces with a mug of Trader Joe’s Hot Cocoa, SLOHS’s girls varsity basketball team represented in Santa Barbara and Orange County.

As a player on this outstanding team, I had firsthand experience with our team celebration of Christmas. We had a Secret Santa gift exchange and decorated our hotel rooms in preparation for this holiday.

“We exchanged Secret Santa gifts and brought a little Christmas tree to put our presents under,” said junior girls varsity basketball player Chase Moore. The days after Christmas, while the majority of the population was napping off their large Christmas Day feast, our team was traveling down to East Los Angeles and will be playing at least four games in the Chino Hills tournament.