‘Why not Pinkston?’
A look back at the Lady Vikings varsity basketball team’s monumental season

The scoreboard clock ticked down to the final seconds, with the crowd on their feet waiting for the final buzzer.
When it sounded, L.G. Pinkston High School fans and alumni hugged, cried and celebrated what had been denied to the Lady Vikings basketball team in previous years: A victory that qualified them for the state tournament semi-finals.
In past seasons, the team suffered two consecutive playoff heartbreaks, handed to them by Melissa High School. This year, with hunger and determination, the team finally surpassed that barrier.
“It was deserving for our kids,” Lady Vikings head coach Nicolle Stovall says. “We’ve been working hard for it, so reaching this step was just emotional.”
The strong emotions after the game were partly because the Lady Vikings had been knocking on the door of the state championship since 2018, when they managed to win a playoff game for the first time ever.
Pinkston was the underdog. No odds were placed on this West Dallas team to make such a run and become one of the best four 4A teams in the state.
“So many people doubted us and didn’t think our kids have the talent or the caliber, so our drive was always to show people and show the Dallas-Fort Worth area what we’re all about,” Stovall says.
Pinkston’s pre-season began Nov. 6 with a series of friendly games before conference play. Like every other high school sports team this year, the pandemic was one of the most formidable opponents.
It’s not just the school’s athletic ability that has been questioned. At the beginning of the last decade, Pinkston was on the state’s list of failing schools for consecutive years. The school was warned that if the situation didn’t improve, it would be forced to close.
For a school that recently faced academic elimination, the success of reaching the final four in the state, being awarded seven football scholarships in 2021, and having multiple teams in district playoffs gives hope that the best is yet to come.
A game by game approach
Team captain and shooting guard Tamia Flores says COVID-19 was a struggle not only because of health issues but also from a mentality standpoint.
“We knew because of Covid that we had to stay extremely focused and not pay attention to what was happening outside,” Flores says. “We had to stay focused and play for each other, and that’s what we did.”

The pandemic affected the team’s preparation for the season and also the game schedule once they began playing regularly. Stovall says the team’s keyword this year was “flexibility.”
“It was a game by game situation,” Stovall says. “Sometimes we were on our way to a game and suddenly we had to cancel because players from the other team had Covid, so at any given time we were able to play, but sometimes we weren’t able to play.”
The Vikings opened their conference play with a strong 75-27 win against Carter High School on Jan. 2. The team finished conference play with a 76-6 win against Roosevelt High School, taking their conference record to 8-2 and clinching a spot in the playoff games for the state championship.
Though Lincoln High School took the district championship title, Pinkston defeated the team 69-64 during the regular season.
Stovall, who has coached the Lady Vikings for the last four years, approaches each season game by game.
“Our goal was to win the state championship, but we wanted to make sure that we go one game at a time and then look forward to the next game,” Stovall says. “We watched many games from our opponents to scatter them to see what our strengths and weaknesses were against them.”