The varsity boys’ basketball team traveled to Stony Point to take on their district foes on Friday, Feb. 8. The last time the two teams played, it ended in a heartbreaking loss for the Warriors on their home court, but the result of this match wouldn’t end up like it did the first time they met. The Warriors dominated the Tigers from start to finish in a 55-39 victory over their rivals.

“We were a lot more motivated to win our last three games of the season for dignity’s sake, so our main goal tonight was to come out firing on all cylinders,” Patrick Sladek ’19 said.

Both teams came out hot in the first quarter, as the two teams traded shots throughout the first frame of action. After a period of draining shots left and right, the Warriors found themselves up by a healthy margin of 24-15.

“The first quarter was extremely important because we put them on their heels [for] the whole game,” Sladek said. “We also gained a lot of confidence from shooting well in the first quarter.”

The second quarter proved to be a different story than the first, however; both sides played with a lot of intensity on the defensive side of the ball as opposed to the first quarter, where the Warriors and the Tigers scored seemingly at will. The Warriors were able to force a handful of steals and contest lots of Stony Point shots to the point where the Tigers couldn’t get much on the board. Likewise, the Warriors were confronted by the Tigers’ improved defensive efforts, and as the halftime buzzer sounded, both teams had only scored six points each in the quarter. The Warriors headed to the locker room still on top by nine points, leading 30-21.

The third quarter was also evenly matched. Both teams limited each other so that not too many points could be scored on the offensive end. The beginning of the second half was a bit more offense-friendly than the second quarter, but the two rivals made enough stops to prevent the other team from going on a serious run. The Warriors still held the lead, this time leading 40-31, when time expired in the third quarter.

To break the trend from the prior two quarters, the Warriors began to pull away from the Tigers in the final frame of the contest. After many close attempts that resulted in misses, Sladek drilled a three-pointer to start the scoring in the fourth, thanks to the Warriors controlling the offensive glass and getting many offensive rebounds prior to the shot. Sladek’s three-ball forced Stony Point to call a timeout, as the converted shot stretched the lead to double digits, where the Warriors led 43-31. The three-point barrage wouldn’t stop, though; despite Stony Point calling a timeout to adjust, Santi Campos ’20 and Luke Durham ’19 splashed back-to-back threes to increase the lead further, and the Warriors remained in control for the remainder of the game. A filthy crossover from Sladek that put a defender on the floor was the cherry on top in the resounding victory on the road. The Warriors walked away with a 55-39 win when the final buzzer sounded, with the team getting their revenge after a painful loss the last time the two district foes met.

“We really came out of the [first] quarter and had decided we had nothing to lose and we just wanted to go out and have fun,” Ethan Brown ’19 said. “When we’re having fun, things just seem to click better, and this ultimately led us to play on a roll, building on each good play we made.”

The Warriors will wrap up their season when they take on another rival, the Cedar Ridge Raiders, at home on Tuesday, Feb. 12.