The freshman orange boys’ basketball team emerged victorious against the Leander Lions on Tuesday, Feb. 5. The Warriors took an early lead against the Lions and fought until the end with a final score of 49-28.

Carson King ‘22 opened the quarter with a three-pointer in the opening minutes of the game. The Lions fought back, pushing through the defense to score a layup. Not wanting to be outdone, Vinay Majjiga ‘22 scored a two-pointer bringing the score to 5-2, with the Warriors taking the lead. Thomas Dyar ‘22 scored, putting the board at 7-2, and Zach Engels ‘22 scored off of a pass from Eric Cadar ‘22, raising the score even more. A three-pointer from Carson Turner ‘22 helped the Warriors close out the first quarter with a solid lead against the Lions.

“We made a lot of good shots in crucial times,” King said. “We picked up a lead and that was really good.”

The second quarter started with several shots made by the Warriors, and one from the Lions bringing the score up to 14-6. King made two free throws and Majjiga scored a two-pointer with seven minutes left in the quarter. Leander fought through the Warrior’s defense to score and bring the Warriors’ lead to 18-13. After several shots from Dyar and a strong defense from the Warriors, the first half came to a close with Westwood in the lead, 22-14.

“I think I did a pretty good job boxing out their big guy,” Cadar said. “I could’ve squared up to the basket more to look for back cuts.”

King opened the second half of the game by adding a three-pointer to Westwood’s lead. The Lions scored however, despite Mijjiga’s attempt to block the shot. Ben Stankes ‘22 fought back against the Lions and scored a layup pulling the Warriors further ahead. King stole the ball from the opposing team and brought it back up the court for his team. With one minute left in the third quarter Engels scored off of a pass from King, raising the score higher for the Warriors. Turner was fouled and scored a free throw, bringing the third quarter score to 34-21 with the Warriors leading.

“We gotta scramble more and box out,” Majjiga said.

The Warriors were in a rhythm as they entered the last quarter of the game. Stankes stole the ball from a Leander opponent and brought it back down the court to make a layup. Dyar, Engels, King, and Kike Trevino ‘22 all scored, fighting to maintain and strengthen their lead. Leander managed to score a layup bringing the score to 45-26, but Karsten Bresser ‘22 canceled it out by scoring his own two-pointer against the Lions. Trevino fought for a rebound and stole the ball from the Lions in the last seconds of the game bringing it to a final score of 49-28 in favor of the Warriors.

“Our hopes for the season are obviously to win District,” Engels said. “This year has just been great;everyone’s been playing great as a team and that’s why we’re in first for District right now and that’s why we’re going to close it out with a District Championship.”

The Warriors are looking to get another win away against Stony Point on Friday, Feb. 8.