MORGAN -- For the Trojans it comes down to one thing.
"When we step on the court, we know that we're expected to give 100 percent," said senior forward Angela Blazzard. "It's a tradition we've had as long as I've been here."
Blazzard and the Morgan High School girls basketball team reached a rather impressive milestone during 52-47 road victory last week over Bear River.
The win over the Bears was Morgan's 200th victory of the decade in girls basketball. The Trojans, who followed up that win with another over Ben Lomond on Thursday, are 201-38 overall during the past 10 seasons, an average of more than 20 wins a year.
"I think overall our athletics program is strong; we help bring each other up," senior guard Chelsea Morgan said. "We start out playing together when we're young on comp teams and by the time we get to high school, we've played a lot of games together. That really makes a big difference."
This season, Morgan (19-0) is one of four remaining unbeaten teams in the state and the only one in 3-A. The Trojans' win over the Scots on Thursday secured a share of their eighth league championship of the past 10 years.
Morgan is 91-7 (92.9 winning percentage) in league play and has won five undefeated league titles.
"I think that it is unique that a community can constantly generate winning programs," said Ogden High School coach Phil Russell, the state's all-time leader in girls basketball victories and frequent opponent of the Trojans. "Unlike other schools who seem to do a lot of recruiting to maintain success, Morgan works with what they have inside their schools boundaries.
"Morgan gets great support from their community and their administration.
They are a class act, and I think they would do well in any classification from 3-A to 5-A."
The Trojans still need a win this week on the road against second-place Juan Diego or Grantsville in order to secure the league title outright and a No.
1 seed, but Morgan coach Brad Matthews says the key for his team is that they don't look ahead.
"We don't talk about being undefeated; it's not our focus," Matthews said.
"Our goal every day is to just work hard on getting better. We focus on each game as we get ready play it."
Their ability to maintain focus was tested last week when junior forward Ashley Garfield, the Trojans' leading scorer and rebounder, suffered an injury to left ankle. Garfield will miss at least the next two weeks and her return for the state tournament is questionable.
"I told the girls during practice (last week) that we are still a good team," Matthew said. "I don't want any one player to try and replace that by themselves. I want everyone to step up and elevate themselves a little more."
During the win over the Scots, junior forward Rachael Johnson and junior point guard Becca Rees combined for 17 rebounds. That is something that Matthews felt was a perfect example of what he wants to see from the Trojans.
Like many small towns, the Trojans' tradition also runs through family.
Blazzard's older sister, Cheryl, was a four-year starter for Morgan during the first four years of the decade, winning the Standard-Examiner's All-Area Most Valuable Player after leading the team to the state 3-A title as a senior. Garfield's older sister, Chelsey, was also a four-year starter.
Those are just two of numerous examples for Morgan.
On the Trojans' tradition of excellence over the past decade, Matthews says it starts at the community level.
"If you watch during our games, there is a huge line of fifth- and sixth-graders waiting to give our players a high five on their way into the locker room," Matthews said. "They grow up wanting to work hard to get onto the court for Morgan. They see that success and they want to be a part of it.
"We don't have the strongest or the fastest or the biggest players, but what we have is a group of players that want to win. They want to play hard, and that's contagious."
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