As the second round of district play continues, the Warriors traveled to McNeil High School on Jan. 30 to take on their rival, the Mavericks. Previously, the Warriors beat the Mavericks 60-47, but the team still knew that they would have to fight to get another win. The two teams played a competitive game that resulted in double overtime, but the Warriors fell short and lost 55-51.

The Warriors started the game by showing off their shooting abilities as Latham Robinson ‘18 and Patrick Sladek ‘19 gave the Warriors nine points off of three-point shots. With McNeil down towards the end of the quarter, the Mavericks held the ball to run down the clock and finish the first quarter 13-10. For the majority of the second quarter, the Warriors were able to keep the Mavericks scoring down. With another three-pointer from Sladek and free throws made by Daniel Victor ‘18, the Warriors finished the half up ahead 27-22.

“It definitely felt good for us to know that we were shooting well, which really allows us to relax more and makes the flow of the game more natural,” Robinson said. “We had a five point lead at the half and were really confident and ready to close out the game in the second half.”

Coming back from halftime, the Mavericks showed more determination to score, and it wasn’t long before the game was tied 32-32. With a quick rebound and shot by Robinson, the Warriors led 34-32 at the end of the third quarter. For the fourth quarter, both teams turned up their aggression as they tried to gain a lead on each other. The Warriors struggled to get to the basket as the McNeil defense double-teamed point guard, Brandon Parks ‘20. The teams continued to reach a tie as the clock counted down and the quarter ended at 39-39.

“Going into overtime we wanted to stop DJ, their best player, from scoring and take him out of the equation,” Victor said. “Other guys stepped up on their team though and we got to do a better job of stopping those guys as well.”

As the game intensified, so did the crowd’s energy. The Tribe and parents got loud to cheer on the Warriors and attempted to distract when a Maverick player was shooting a freethrow. Starting off the four minute overtime, the Mavericks gained possession of the ball first, but the Warriors quickly seized the ball off a rebound. Shots made by Robinson and Victor allowed the Warriors to regain a lead, but in the last minute, the Mavericks were able to score twice to tie the score again at 46-46, which athen sent the teams into double overtime.

Moving into double overtime, the Warriors gained the ball after Mason Flood ‘19 tipped the ball to Victor at the jump ball. The Mavericks was the first team to score, which gave them a lead. The Warriors were fouled multiple times, but the inability to make both free throws kept the Warriors score down. The scramble for the ball on the court endured as the pressure to score increased. With four seconds left, Victor tipped the ball in for one last score, but it failed to gain a lead which resulted in the Warriors losing 55-51.

“We need to focus on closing out games in the future,” Victor said. “This game should have been a win, but we made mistakes at the end that cost us the game.”

The Warriors will take on the Stony Point Tigers on Friday, Jan, 31 at Stony Point High School beginning at 7 p.m.. Go Wood.