Coming off their 13th straight loss the girls’ varsity basketball team traveled to Magruder on Feb. 5, hoping to earn their first win on the season.
The team was winless up until to this point after suffering multiple devastating losses. The girls were frustrated with the season going into the game, and they were hungry for a win. “We were really disappointed with the season so far and we wanted to bounce back with a win at Magruder,” senior Mary Quackenbush said.
On Feb. 5 against Magruder, both teams came out playing strong defense. This led to a low scoring first quarter with the Patriots up 9-8. Then the Patriots in the second quarter kept playing great defense, and all their shots were falling, which helped increased their lead to 39-18 at the end of the first half. The Patriots also had senior Crystal Bridge to thank for their massive lead because she put up 20 points in the first half, outscoring Magruder 20-18. “It was one of my best performances ever but I was just focused on getting the win,” Bridge said.
Going into the third quarter, the Patriots were focused on finishing the game and getting the win. They did this by working hard and maintaining great defense by only allowing five points. This increased their lead even more with the Patriots up 49-23 at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter was exactly the same: great defense by the Patriots, which helped this team earn their first win on the season. “It was a great feeling to get the win against Magruder and I’m very proud of how my team played,” head coach Maggie Dyer said.
After coming off the win against Magruder, the Patriots hoped to earn another win on Feb. 8 when they faced off against Walter Johnson at home. It was a tough fight to start off the first quarter and the Patriots had the lead 8-7 with a few minutes remaining in the first. Then WJ went on a 20-0 run due to bad defense and turnovers that left the Patriots down 28-7 halfway throughout the second quarter. The Patriots ended the half down 35-15. The 20-point run was too big for the Patriots to come back from and they ended up losing the game 42-25.
The girls’ latest game was on Feb. 12. at Northwood where the girls were looking to add another win to their record. The girls got off to a great start in the first quarter and they took the lead early at 16-11 to end the first quarter. However, Northwood bounced back by making some tough shots and they tied the game up 27-27 at halftime. Then in the third quarter Northwood carried over their momentum and took the lead at 39-34 to start the fourth quarter. Going into the fourth quarter the Patriots were down by five but couldn’t come back and they lost 52-45.
The girls travel to Whitman for their next game on Feb. 15.
