The Lady Warriors’ varsity basketball team came into their seventh district game on Friday, Jan. 19 to beat the Cedar Ridge Raiders for a second time this season. Ending the match 44-34, the Warriors demonstrated keen sportsmanship and a commitment to win.

Although the Raiders started with the ball, the Warriors took charge with an aggressive offense by Makayla Coy ‘19 and McKenna Lindley ‘18, who cut past defensive players to drive for layups and force fouls. As a ball touched by the Raiders rolled out-of-bounds, one of their players rushed to push it back in-bounds, but Christie French ‘19 caught the saved ball under the net and scored the first two points for the Warriors. Coy sprinted full court to score and put the Warriors up 6-4. Kooper Giles ‘20 rebounded twice in a row, both with a hard dribble then an attack to the basket. Able to block passes by the Raiders, Allyah Beaty ‘18 conquered on defense for successful turnovers. As Lindley ran the length of the court, she spotted Meaghan Hendricks ‘18 who waited and ended the quarter up 11-10 with a perfect shot.

On their man defense, Beaty never faltered to stay with the offense and with the help of Giles and Lindley, more turnovers were completed. The Warriors stayed consistent with rebounds and defense which helped them throughout the first half. The first three-pointer was made by Kenzie Beckham ‘21 with only three minutes remaining and ended the half 21-13.

“We stayed in the lead because the team stayed focus and paid attention to detail,” Beaty said. “We kept each other up even when we had a mistake. The energy on the floor was not hard to notice.”

The Raiders’ first pass in bounds at the start of the third quarter was stolen by Hendricks and put the Warriors ahead once again. Lindley went for a risky layup and was pushed out of bounds, but completed the shot regardless. Four minutes left in the quarter and the Warriors still lead 27-16. Hendricks banked a three-pointer at the buzzer that ended the third quarter (34-26).

“We took four chargers in the game and by getting that many in a game was for sure my favorite thing because it’s huge for momentum,” Hendricks said. “Our defense helped us stay consistently in the lead. Since we were struggling offensively, we knew we had to step up defensively.”

In the last quarter, both teams showed urgency on offense as they quickly tried to gain points as the end of the game neared. Coy passed the ball halfway down the court to Lindley who ran to the basket and drew the foul for two completed free throws (40-32). Hendricks continued to fight for the ball on rebounds and stripped it from the Raiders’ hands. After Coy stole the ball, she immediately shot and earned two points for the team (42-32). With a minute left in the game, the Warriors’ aggressive offense kept the ball away from the Raiders, disabling them from scoring to ensure the Warriors lead and ended 44-34.

“Cedar Ridge is a very good offensive team, and the fact we held them to 34 points is a testament to how good we played defense,” head coach Doug Davalos said. “I thought our defense was outstanding and we made everything in the paint tough for them. We stuck with a game plan and played good inside-out defense.”

Join the Lady Warriors on Friday, Jan. 26 at the Field House as they tackle the Hendrickson Hawks at 7 p.m..