In a tough game against the Vandegrift VIpers, the varsity women’s basketball team played on on Friday, Dec. 6. While the Warriors put up a good fight throughout the game, making great shots and executing impressive defensive moves, they couldn’t keep up with the Vipers, ending the game with a final score of 68-38.

“I thought that this was one of our better defensive games in terms of [man-on-man defense],” Isabella “Bella” D’Alessandro said. “But it was a really good team, so they were going to get their points no matter what.”

Seconds into the game, Vandegrift stole the ball at the tip off, as the Warriors sprang into action. However, in an unfortunate start for the Warriors, their defense was overaggressive, giving a free throw to the Vipers soon after. In response to a few missed rebounds, Co-Captain Caroline Dougherty broke this trend and scored a layup, taking advantage of the gap in Vandegrift’s defense, the Warriors tied the score 2-2. The Warriors kept this strong defense, only momentarily however. But again and again, the Vipers pushed past the Warriors and scored. With only 2:38 left in the first quarter Vandegrift was leading  17-6, but luckily as D’Alessandro dribbled through the Viper defense for a layup, the Warriors saw a chance. However, this hope did not last as the Warriors weren’t able to hold on to the ball, going out of bounds, and giving free throw opportunities to Vandegrift. The first quarter ended with a massive gap in the score as Vandegrift led 22-8.

“I think most important [going forward] is probably our defense and [we need to focus] on offense too,” Co-Captain Theresa Bell ‘26 said. “Offense is really important, making sure we knock down shots, you know. I think in this game, we worked really hard, we just really found what we really need to work on, which is just defense again – I can’t stress that enough.”

The Warriors went into the second quarter with one goal, to close the gap in the score. Managing to keep the Vipers away from the basket, Iman Xu ‘28 popped one in after covering the rebound. The Warriors, keeping up their scoring streak, hit a three to bring the score 30-15 with 3:37 left in the first half. Shortly after, D’Alessandro made another three pointer, rousing the crowd of parents and supporters to erupt with excited cheers. In the final moments of the half, with 1:35 left, the score was at 32-19, as Vandegrift turned over the ball. However soon, another layup ended the first half with Westwood down, 37-21.

“I think we just struggled with our defense, but we can always fix this during practice,” Bell said, “we just need to work a little harder on that.. I think we do have good team chemistry, it’s just executing during the game [that is the problem]. I think that if we just communicate more that will help us a lot.”

With a 16 point gap in the score, the Warriors were in dire need of a miracle and unfortunately it didn’t start at the half,  as  the Vipers soon stole the ball and scored in a fast break. However, the Warriors recovered quickly with a rebound from Lee and a two-pointer from Dougherty which brought the game 39-23. However, the Warriors fouled multiple times in a row, gifting four free throws to Vandegrift. Luckily, Dougherty scored a three-point-shot and brought the score to try and pry the team’s way to victory.

“I feel like in the moment [I scored], my first thought is just, ‘Pull it, win it, get back on defense,’” Dougherty said. But it feels really good to see it go. It’s really exciting, and my teammates always support me when I score.” 

Unfortunately, the Warrior defense only continued to falter as the Vandegrift led further and further in front of Warriors. With 1:40 left in the third quarter the score was 47-27 and despite another layup from Dougherty, the Warriors just couldn’t keep up with Vandegrift’s offense as they easily continued to make shot after shot, ending the third quarter at 53-29.

“[The team struggled the most with] staying in front of [our opponents],” Dougherty said. “Those girls were really fast, so we had trouble staying in front of them.”

Despite the discouraging score, the Warriors were determined to fight until the last second of the game. Continuing to play, D’Alessandro made another 3 point shot bringing the game 55-32 only one minute in. Unfortunately the issues present throughout the game only continued. With 4:36 left, the Warriors were fouled, allowing them a chance at a basket. The score was 62-33 and after another steal and break by Vandegrift, Lee got the rebound and jammed in a layup. Following past trends, the Warriors couldn’t keep up with the Vipers and despite another layup from Xu, Vandegrift ran out the last 10 seconds of the game ending the game 68-38.

“I just want to do my best to lead the team and be very vocal and have them believe in themselves so we can win,” Dougherty said.  “I think it’s important that we keep believing in ourselves and keep working hard and don’t let losses get in our heads. I think that, in this game, we fought the entire time – we never gave up, even though we were losing. We fought hard till the end.”

The Warriors will next head to Manor High School to battle the Mustangs on Friday Dec 10, at 7 p.m.