Athens High girls basketball coach Eddie Murphree only needs two words to sum up the personality of his team this year – class and character.

“This year’s group has a lot of those characteristics,” he said. “We’ve got five very good seniors and that’s who we’re looking to for leadership. These girls all get along and want to work to get better. When you have those characteristics on a team, it makes your job as a coach a lot easier.”

So far, Murphree has been pleased with what he has seen from his team.

“Their work ethic is definitely where it needs to be,” he said. “Everyone has shown up ready to work every day. Fundamentally, we’re not where I want us to be. But if we keep working like we’re supposed to, then that will take care of itsself.

“Our intensity level is where it needs to be, but we still have a ways to go fundamentally.”

One bright spot about Athens’ offseason was that Murphree was able to fix one of last year’s problem areas– team depth. With several starters out of pocket for summer trips, Murphree was able to develop depth in several positions with underclassmen. Athens features five seniors – Courtney Medlen, Sierra Caudle, Keona Shoulders, Mikia Redus and Brittany Hovell. The Golden Eaglettes have one junior, Candice Bone; two sophomores; Amelia Ridgeway and Jessica Strong; and one freshman, LeCreshia Horton.

Last year, Athens didn’t make its usual trip to the Northwest Regional at Wallace State-Hanceville. Murphree is hoping this year’s group can get back to the success the Golden Eaglettes are used accustomed to.

“Winning a state championship is always our goal here at Athens,” Murphree said. “But sometimes that’s easier said than done. There are a lot of good girls basketball programs in north Alabama, so we’re going to be playing at a high level of competition almost every night.”

Athens must conquer one of the toughest areas in north Alabama before Murphree and his players can think about playing at Wallace State.

“We’ve got a real tough schedule,” Murphree said. “With Russellville, Muscle Shoals and Decatur in our area, it’s going to be really competitive. We’re also playing a really tough schedule with some good tournaments.

“We’re going to play in the Northwest Alabama Tournament at Lauderdale County and the Brooks Christmas Tournament. Both of those have really strong fields. Then we’ve got another strong tournament at Pleasant Grove. We’re going to see good competition nearly every night. We’re hoping that will make us a better basketball team down the stretch.”

With such a strong schedule, Murphree is looking for consistency from his team.

“That’s the main thing I want,” he said. “We have to play at the same high level every night. We can’t go through peaks and valleys.

“Sometimes that’s hard, but I want us to approach every opponent with the same level of intensity.”

Athens opens its season at 6 p.m. tonight at Decatur Heritage.