The road to the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s February Frenzy and all the basketball state-tournament hoopla doesn’t usually begin in late November, but in summer leagues.

Triple-digit temperatures are the norm. Sometimes, there is construction on campuses, creating an obstacle course to reach the gymnasium. And when you finally get there, the air conditioning can be a hit-and-miss proposition.

Still, it is worth it, perhaps worth even more months down the road.

One of the teams trying to fit everything together is the girls’ squad from Laveen Betty H. Fairfax, one of several teams participating in a Monday and Wednesday league at Tolleson High.

Coach A. J. Greenough has a young team, but it is talented. On this day, the team rolls past neighborhood rival Laveen Cesar Chavez.

He is encouraged by the progress his team is making. The team had recently finished competing in a camp at Arizona State. Betty H. Fairfax finished 2-5 there, but most of the losses were by seven points or less. Some of the competition will be the same when the team moves from Division II to Division I this winter.

“We’re a young team. We have young guards. But we have potential,’’ said Greenough, whose team was 18-12 last season.

He and the players are excited about the move to Division I.

They expect to be placed in a section along with Goodyear Millennium, Avondale Westview, Phoenix St. Mary’s and Tolleson, among others.

“That is a good, solid group. St. Mary’s (defending state champion) graduated a lot of its players, and it probably won’t be as strong as it has been. So the section is winnable,’’ Greenough said.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us, so we will see how the team matures. We want to be like St. Mary’s has been in the past, a team that plays one way all the time no matter what the situation is, doesn’t relax and gets the job done.’’

Among those playing key roles for the Stampede in 2013-14 are senior post player Brooklyn Biel, sophomore swing player Anessa Glenn and sophomore point guard Zhane King.