But until then, the Lady Loboes (33-10) say they are choosing to stay in the present.
In this case, the present is a match at 7:30 tonight against Borger (29-10) in the semifinals of the Region I-3A Tournament at Lubbock Christian University’s Rip Griffin Center. It is the sixth consecutive season the Lady Loboes have been in the regional tournament.
“We want to get back to San Marcos,” Monahans head coach Patty Dominguez said. “That’s been a long-term goal since Aug. 6 with the understanding that we’re going to take six steps.
“This is a six-step process from the playoffs to the state tournament. We’ve been telling ourselves and conditioning ourselves that we’re taking one step at a time, so that’s where we’re headed.”
It would be natural for the Lady Loboes to be peaking toward the regional championship match at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Monahans will play the winner of tonight’s other semifinal match between Andrews and Canyon. If the opponent is Canyon, it will be the fourth consecutive year the teams have played and the second straight year in the regional final.
Canyon won last year’s meeting, ending Monahans’ four-year run of reaching the state tournament.
“We definitely want to get there and dominate the whole time, every game” Monahans senior Bailey Marcum said of this weekend’s regional appearance. “We just try to focus on each game one at a time. We’ve got Friday first and then we’ll talk about Canyon.”
The Lady Loboes swept Sweetwater and Lubbock Cooper in their first two playoff matches to reach this weekend’s regional tournament.
A season full of matches against big-time teams — such as Lubbock Coronado, Canyon Randall and San Angelo Central to name a few — was the preparation for moments like tonight against Borger.
“They’ve done a fantastic job helping us prepare,” Dominguez said. “We’ve done everything and now we’ve just got to come through."