Friends, family, and faculty all came to support the JV girls’ basketball team for their last district game of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 7. Although the Warriors lost 50-51 to the Round Rock Dragons, they fought a hard fight and displayed their powerful teamwork, motivation, and impressive skills for all to see.

The Warriors were quick to drop back and defend their basket after the Dragons won the jump ball. With a strong man-to-man defense, the Warriors were able to block every opposing shot. Christy French ‘19 rapidly snatched the rebound and raced down the court, but the Dragons cut her off and stole the ball back. Annalise Galliguez ‘20 blocked a powerful chest pass between the Dragons; she pushed through the defense by using ball fakes and got the ball to French who scored. French and Galliguez worked together efficiently to carry the Warriors in the first quarter.

Only a few seconds into the second quarter, Archita Sivakumar ‘18 shot a three-pointer, and the Warriors’ score began to catch up to the Dragons’. With the Dragons running an aggressive man-to-man defense, it was more difficult for the Warriors to score; however, Jenny Todd ’19 continued to impress as she stole the ball, sprinted down the whole court, and scored on a layup. The many fouls against Westwood gave the Warriors enough scoring opportunities to gain a lead. With six seconds left on the clock, Todd scored a three-pointer which ended the second quarter.

“I think we played really well tonight, and we had good communication and lots of aggression in the game,” Sivakumar said.

In the third quarter, Karissa Simchick ‘18 had plenty of assists and scored many points of her own as well. With her hard work, and that of the whole team, the Warriors caught up to the Dragons and ended the third quarter with a tie of 38-38.

“In the beginning we got off to a rough start, but I’m so proud of our comeback,” Simchick said.

The intensity was high as the teams fought to gain a lead. For most of the fourth quarter, the teams’ scores altered back and forth from a tie to a one-point lead. With time running out, the Warriors played ‘keep away’ to stall so they’d stay ahead. Finally with a minute left in the game, and the score at 46-44, the Dragons gained three points with a bank shot and a free throw. The Warriors didn’t give up and worked their offense to score. The last 30 seconds of the game ticked down, and the Dragons lost the ball. Sivakumar took advantage of this and faked a shot to draw the defense away; she then snuck past her defender and scored. With 14 seconds to go the Dragons made a three-pointer which put them ahead by one point. Playing ‘keep away’ to run the clock out, the Dragons held onto their lead of 50-51 and won the game.