GRAND MEADOW — If you do what you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.

The Superlarks girls basketball team has found what they love and they’re certainly having a lot of fun. The team was all smiles and upbeat in practice Monday, despite having every reason to be tired or low on energy.

Two days earlier, Grand Meadow capped off a three-game week by playing their most complete game of the season – –— a 70-67 overtime win over Crestwood, Iowa, which features University of Iowa commit Sharon Goodman, a 6-3 post player who led the Cadets to an undefeated state championship season last year.

The No. 5-ranked Superlarks (8-0 overall) gained a lot of confidence in that win and have continued to learn to trust each other on and off the court.

“Our saying is the strength of the team is each member and the strength of each member is the team,” GM senior Skylar Cotten said. “We have all been coming together and there hasn’t been any drama. We’ve been working really hard together in games and in practice.”

Cotten has taken her game to new levels this season. She’s emerged as a significant scoring option alongside standouts Jordyn Glynn and Riley Queensland.

“Skylar runs the court really well,” Glynn said. “We get a rebound and she’s already down there so we just chuck it and hope for the best. She usually puts it in, so it’s good. We’re always willing to make the extra pass. If we’re open, we already know that somebody else probably has a better look.”

The Larks have won five of their first eight games by more than 15 points, but they know there is no time for feeling overconfident.

GM has improved its win total o each of the past three seasons with this group and the squad went 23-6 overall last year. But GM has also played in a loaded Section 1A West and it hasn’t been able to get over the hump.

Last year eventual state champ Lyle-Pacelli knocked off GM 60-37 in the Section 1A West finals after beating the Larks twice in the regular season.

“They’re hungry. We’ve had a tough section and we still have a tough section,” GM head coach Ryan Queensland said. “There’s plenty of battles and tests ahead and we’ve got a lot of work to do to prepare for taking that next step. But from what I see from these girls is they enjoy playing together and they enjoy the game so much that the wins take care of themselves.”

The Superlarks have kept this group of players together over the past few years and they’ve built up a strong team dynamic. No player is bigger than the system and the team values winning and enjoying the game above all other things.

“We’ve been playing together for a long time and it’s been a dream of ours to have a good, solid season,” Glynn said. “It’s been so much fun.”

GM doesn’t have a lot of team size, but the team has used its speed and quickness to stay effective. Ryan said that his favorite trait of this group is how well they play and practice together.

“I’m very pleased with the unity and the unselfishness that’s out there,” Ryan said. “They’ve played together for so long and that’s the way they’ve always played. We don’t have size, so we have to make people move. They’re doing that by spreading the floor and making good passes.”

The Superlarks will play at Mabel-Canton at 7:15 p.m. Friday.