The Warriors approached the Stony Point Tigers in a heated matchup that ended in a 57-41 victory on Friday Jan. 9. Despite a challenging opposition, the Warriors maintained the leading score throughout the entirety of the game.

“The team’s shots, rebounds, and transition stuff was very beneficial to the success of our game,” Jonah Wellington ‘29 said. “ So much so that we came out victorious and kept a strong lead for the majority of the game.”

In the initial moments of the game, a free throw was granted to the Warriors immediately after tipoff to open the game with the Warriors up 2-0. As the ball made its way back to the Tigers end of the court, the Tigers quickly took advantage and proceeded to move the ball quickly to find an opportunity to score, not long into their possession the Warriors intercepted a pass to secure possession. This gave Wellington the chance to score the first three point shot of the game setting up the score at 5-0 for the Warriors. The Warrior aggression became more evident as later they received a foul granting the Tigers their first free throw. Shortly, after the Tigers called their first timeout the Tigers redeemed themselves by scoring their first free throw. As the Warriors utilized spacing, a path was created for multiple shots ending the first quarter in the lead with a score of 13-8.

“We could have done better because even though at that point in the game we had a substantial advantage over them,” Kyle Jeng ‘29 said. “But I think our defense could improve especially with how they move the ball.”

 Starting off the second quarter strong with an initial three-point shot allowed the Warriors to extend their lead at 16-8. Following this opening three, a scoring drought followed; however after several minutes with both teams failing to score, the Warriors pulled themself out of this slump with another three-pointer. In an attempt to catch up the Tigers pushed back against the Warriors aggression but it ultimately resulted in a foul granting Westwood a free throw with a score of 22-8. The Warriors defense dominated the court working in their favor as shots were bringing the score up to 25-23 as they entered the last minute of the quarter. Feeling the pressure of the final seconds before halftime, the Tigers continue to fumble the ball. However, they managed to extend their scores standing in the game with a final score of 27-17 going into the locker room for half.

“They [Stoney Point Tigers] were really aggressive, however, we did well especially with pushing the court, “ Daren Grisham ‘29 said. “We just now have to beat Hutto next.”

Entering the third quarter of the game, the Tigers received a foul immediately giving the Warriors an advantage in the second half. Despite another quick Warrior drought, efficient movement of the ball became extremely evident on the court, allowing the Warriors to pull themselves up and begin scoring again. That efficiency played a part in the Warriors scoring a three-pointer making the score 32-17. Moving into the last three minutes of the third quarter, the Tigers became increasingly more aggressive causing the Warriors to fumble the ball multiple times. However, after becoming aware of the heightened pressure, the Warriors fought back bringing the final score of the third quarter to 42-28.

“Their coach was calling out a lot of plays and I expected a play and we really utilized our defensive team to allow us to shoot the ball,”  Sanjiv Doraisamy ’29 said. “I did enjoy this game because I was able to make a layup which was a highlight.” 

Officially, in the final stretch of the game a layup was made kicking off the fourth quarter with an initial score of 44-30. This performance was seen throughout the entirety of the fourth quarter as a three-point shot was made raising the score to 49-33. This consistent acceleration in scoring was also supported by the defensive side which was constantly blocking off the Tigers and creating a path for points to be earned by Warrior offense. In the final minutes of the quarter, both teams managed to make a substantial increase in shot percentage However, ultimately the Warriors demonstrated technical skills on both the offensive and defensive side leading to another home game win with a final score of 57-41.

The Warriors will take on the Vandegrift Vipers in their next game on Tuesday, Jan, 13.