HORNELL, N.Y. (WHEC) – The Hornell girl’s basketball team operates different than most. On their team, every player is a captain.

“Even when days you’re off, or you may be off, you have multiple people who can help you and carry you and pick you up and are all kind of looking out for each other, so that’s kind of the beauty in it,” said senior Kadience Gollnitz.

“I don’t think anyone’s really above anyone and when we play like a team and don’t play with like oh that’s the captain, get it to them, and we can all rely on each other, it’s more of a group effort to win the game,” said sophomore Selena Maldonado.

And it’s not just a gimmick. The team effort has the Red Raiders at 16-1 where they lead Class B. They’re the number one team in the state. Where they’ve been for SEVEN straight weeks.

“They’ve been a successful group since they were young, so I think that they just kind of always expected it to go this way. I try to tell them all the time we’ve got a really special thing going,” said head coach James Dagon. 

“It’s kind of hard to realize the fact that we’re as high as we are in the state, cuz it don’t really feel real,” said Gollnitz.

There will be even more palpable buzz on Saturday, when the Red Raiders looks for revenge after an early season loss to Aquinas. They’re looking to give them payback. 

“The good thing about having such young players is they tend to make big strides throughout the season and by the end of the year we’re a lot better than we were when we started the year,” said Dagon.

Seven players are sophomores or younger – it’s a team primed to be back here the next few years. But they want the State Championship NOW – so ALL of the captains can get some hardware.