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Girls varsity basketball loses close game to King’s Academy
Junior Jordan Thompson runs for the layup amid Kings Academy defenders. The girls lost the game by four points.
January 30, 2016
The girls varsity basketball team lost to The King’s Academy 46-50 yesterday at 6:00 p.m. in the Blackford gym.
This game marks the end of the first half of the season for the girls, resulting in an overall record of 14-6.
The Eagles led the first two quarters by only a point in each. The girls had a high field goal percentage, with a number of steals and multiple points scored by Akhila Ramgiri (9), Satchi Thockchom (10), Joelle Anderson (11), and Jordan Thompson (11).
By the fourth quarter, however, the Knights surpassed the girls with consistent free throws and strong defense.
Satchi explained what may have led to the turnaround in the neck-to-neck game.
“Some downs were defense because there was a lot of pressure on the posts to play well and not let that big girl 42 get the ball, which was really difficult – she is a great player,” she said. “At times we pushed the ball really well. Jordan got a lot of great finishes, Joelle got some great finishes, and we got some good shots.”
With one minute left in the fourth quarter and the Eagles down by one point, Joelle Anderson (11) gets ahead of the defenders and prepares to shoot the ball. The girls lost the game by four points.
The stakes were high at moments in which one team led by a mere point, but the Flight Zone cheered on the Eagles in the hopes of pushing the girls to maintain their fight. However, they were unable to make the final stretch and lost by only four points.
Jaclyn Shimada, a junior on the King’s Academy team, discussed what gave her team the extra boost to win.
“I think we moved the ball around a lot better today,” she said. “I think as the season goes on, the team starts to gel together and midway through the season we are finally starting to play together. When we bond off the court, it really shows on the court. I also think more of our shots were going in today.”
As the girls reach the midpoint of their season, they have shown a great deal of improvement in their play despite today’s loss. Their energy, coordination, field goal percentage and speed clearly rose in quality as compared to other performances this season. Joelle expresses what she hopes will come out of this game in how it will influence the rest of the season.
“I think we lost focus a little bit, but we still kept playing hard and it just didn’t go our way in the end,” she said. “We’ve just got to work hard, and since it’s the end of the first half of the season, we need to come out strong.”
The girls play an away game at Mercy High School next Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Freshman Prameela Kottapalli attempts to block the shot by a King’s Academy player. The girls lost the game by four points.
