On Tuesday, Nov. 29, the varsity basketball boys beat Anderson in a nail-biting game that kept fans on the edge of their seats until the last second. Ending the game 48-44, the Warriors fought their way to a win despite losing their lead in the second half. 

“In the second half, I made some important buckets that gave us energy and momentum, and that energy and momentum carried us to a win,” Gabe Parr ‘23 said. “[As a team], we started off slow, but we are an experienced team; we have a lot of seniors, we finished the game off strong, and finished how we knew how to, and we came out with a win.”

The Warriors started the game with a three-pointer by Cayden Branch ‘23, adding energy to the game and leading to a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Moving into the second quarter, the Warriors were up 12-8 and pushing defense against Anderson. The Warriors stayed consistently strong on both offense and defense and continued their four-point lead ending the first half 24-20.

“We started shooting free throws really early we were 5 for 14, so that keeps the game closer than it needs to be,” Head Coach Brad Hastings said. “Anderson is a well coached good team; they run good stuff, so it’s hard to defend, so I’d say them making so many threes in the game while we’re not shooting well that was stressful.” 

Moving into the second half, the Warriors and Anderson entered the court with more energy and pushed for a stronger offense. The game got close as the Warriors entered the last quarter, 34-32. In the middle of the fourth quarter, Anderson tied up the game and even gained a slight lead at one point, but the Warriors tightened their defense and regained their lead. 

“I thought we gave good defensive effort,” Hastings said. “[I] didn’t shoot the ball well, but I was happy to see at the end we were able to get it done with making good free throws and those kinds of things.” 

The Warriors will play against Glenn on Tuesday, Dec. 6, at Westwood.