Tooele High had some magical moments during its recent 3A years with state championships in football and basketball. Now, the Buffs are making the transition to the highly competitive 4A ranks against some of the top schools in the state in Region 7. There have been some bumps in the road so far, but Tooele has not backed down.

The Tooele varsity girls basketball team makes it 2007-2008 debut this Tuesday against former Region 11 foe Logan at 4:30 p.m. in Logan. The Lady Buffs will play eight non-league games in November and December before facing its region foes starting Jan. 2.

Tooele finished last year with a 5-5 region record and 7-11 overall record.

"Region 7 is really tough; Orem and Timpview finished first and second in state last year," said coach Karie Frederickson. "But we're a tough team and I anticipate us reaching the playoffs."

With six returning seniors the team has some seasoned veterans who can make an impact in the new region. "Merideth Nigh has played varsity for four years and makes good decisions with the ball. We also have the two Birds (Alexis and Corrine) who get a lot of game time. Lauren Lescanec, and Teshia Haskell get the ball as well." Frederickson said.

Juniors Aly Jensen and Shareese Oborn will play off the bench, sophomore Mattie Snow and freshman Sharon Lyman will also see some time.

This year the game plan has changed somewhat for the Lady Buffs.

"The teams in this league are very fast and we've worked on our team speed and playing at a faster pace. We also will need to work together as a team," Frederickson said. "Because of the way we'll be playing we are going to need all of our players, everybody will see playing time," she said.

"Jumping up a class is hard in all our sports especially with this particular region, not only in girls basketball," said Tooele High athletic director Rich Valdez.