On Friday, Jan. 9, JV Boys Basketball took on the Stony Point Tigers. After an intense close-call match, the Warriors lost, falling one point short at 69-68.

“Well it’s just, we’re all feeding off each other’s energy,” Bradley Rodgers ‘28 said. “Like, as in good defensive plays, hustle plays, and everybody on the bench starts cheering and staying locked down throughout the game.”

Going into the first quarter, both teams attempted to establish a fair pace to open the game. Joseph Bibbo ‘27 strengthened the Warriors lead by scoring a three point shot putting the game at 13-10. The Warriors took any offensive opening to propel themselves in the lead. Not far behind, the Tigers closed in on the Warriors, and cemented themselves in the lead at 20-17 to end the first quarter.

“What really surprised me was their [Stony Point Tigers’] three point shooting,” Bryan Li ‘28 said. “I felt like last year when we played them in freshman year, they weren’t necessarily the best three point shooter, but that game they came out really on point from three.”

Blazing onto the court, the Tigers continue their strong hold by scoring the first points of the second quarter. The Tigers’ aggressive playing style caused the Warriors to start applying more pressure to the Tigers’ offense. Nevertheless, the Tigers continued their lead of 26-19. To gain back points, the Warriors maximized teamwork to help create more openings for their offense. After securing the ball, Khalil Alexander ‘28 executed a behind-the-back pass to his teammate Charlie King ‘27, and In the same play, King passed the ball to Rodgers  who scored a two point shot ending the second quarter at 29-30 with the Warriors only trailing by one.

“We get locked in… after the 2nd half,” Alexander said. “When the 2nd half started, we started to really start making plays, start understanding the game, understanding the defense, understanding what they’re doing, what we need to do.”

Easing into the third quarter the Warriors’ offensive side started to shine. Rodgers dominated under the rim, by securing rebounds and circulating them to his teammates. The Warriors strengthened their coordination and that changed the momentum of the game shifting in their favor. With a minute left, the Tigers eagerly attempted to even out the score, but failed to do so leaving the quarter to close at 53-49 with the Warriors in the lead.

“I think I helped my team offensively with my scoring, but also like on the rebounds, playing a good defense,” Alexander said.
”Like, all the aspects, they added up to me.”

Entering the fourth quarter, the Tigers started working the court. They earned back points and were able to close the gap at 53-57. Feeling the pressure, the Warriors began scoring any chance they could to remain in the lead.This led to an intense back and forth between both teams. By the four minute mark, the Tigers had the advantage at 59-54. The Warriors tightened their offense and continued grabbing any last minute points. With the score almost even at 59-58, a time out was called. After coming back to the court, Evan Richards ‘27 gained possession of the ball and passed it to Max Romero ‘27 where he then followed with an assist  to Alexander who made a layup in the last six seconds of the fourth quarter. The crowd erupted and cheered when the Warriors took back the lead at 60-59. With less than five seconds remaining. Following a foul by the Warriors, the Tigers were then awarded a free throw where they made one of two shots, putting the score at a 60-60 tie.

“I was thinking [in the final minutes] we just got to get Khalil the ball because he was basically destroying them on offensive rebounds and layups,” Li said. “I was just thinking we got to play good defense after every single time we score.”

Heading into overtime, both teams were on edge to secure the win. Even so, the Warriors scored two points giving them the upper hand. Their lead was short-lived, and the Tigers were able to stack up a few points putting them in the lead of 65-62. In the last 22 seconds, the Warriors had a one point advantage, which the Tigers beat by shooting two free throws leaving the final score at 69-68 and allowing the Tigers to take home the win.

“I think we responded pretty well. And in the 4th quarter and over time, both times, we went down by 4 or 5, but every single time we clawed back up,” Li said. “… it was just unfortunate at the end when we fouled them.”

The JV boys basketball team will return to the court on Tuesday Jan. 13th to go up against the Vandergrift Vipers.