Josh Fostel has coached at Eula High School for 23 years. He won a state championship with the boys’ basketball team, then switched to the girls when his twin daughters, Layla and Laney, reached ninth grade. 

He’s been a part of a lot of games, but he’s never seen an atmosphere like the Eula girls’ state semifinal basketball game against Borden County. 

Fostel still scrolls through pictures of the crowd from that night, photo after photo of people in Eula gear lined up along the baseline wall because the bleachers were packed. The school sold 1,300 tickets and handed out another 400 passes. Abilene Wylie’s basketball gym, the game site, only had a 1,400 capacity. 

That night represents how the Eula girls captured their town’s heart over the best athletic season in school history. Eula won the region in three sports. Basketball won the program’s most games ever and reached its first state championship. Cross Country made its first medal stand at the state meet. Track’s 4x200-meter and 4x400 relays were the first two teams to reach the medal stand at the state meet.