The girls’ basketball team lost 57-54 in a back-and-forth match against the Walt Whitman Vikings on Wednesday, Jan. 15, bringing their record to 5-3 almost halfway through the season.
The game started out rather one-sided, as Whitman jumped out to a 16-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, with the game looking like the Cats were in for a long night. Despite the game stretching to a 16-point deficit, the Wildcats knew that, contrary to popular belief, the game wasn’t over just yet.
“I think it was our halftime talk,” junior guard Norah Youssef said. “I think reality kind of hit us that we have to step up. Sometimes it’s hard when you start off slow, but we knew that we have to work as a team to make it a close game.”
WJ started crawling back in the second half, with sophomore guard Mira Mann knocking down two crucial three-pointers in the fourth quarter. The Cats got more help from players like Youssef and senior Kendall Alexander, who knocked down three-pointers of their own, making it more difficult for the Vikings to maintain their lead.
The Cats also suffered injuries throughout the game. Mann had a foot injury in the fourth quarter that sidelined her for the rest of the game. Youssef and Alexander both suffered second-half injuries of their own but managed to return back into the game. The Cats found themselves trailing by three points with only seconds to go but failed to get a clean shot off, ending the wild ride with the Vikings victorious, 57-54.
“You can only learn and move on,” Youssef said. “For us, it’s always just the next step, we are where our feet are, and we just have to move on from here and hopefully play better.”
After falling to Winston Churchill the night prior 63-55, the Cats drop to 5-3 and are in the midst of a two-game losing streak. The other loss was a five-point game against B-CC right before winter break, making all three losses against divisional opponents. The Cats know that if they want to win and go far in the playoffs, finding a way to beat these teams is paramount.
“We need to make sure we’re executed and make sure we’re practicing hard,” head coach Chris Donlon said. “We have a lot coming up, the season’s halfway over so we’ve got a long way to go, so just making sure we’re continuing to work hard and grow as a team.”
The Wildcats will need to keep on improving if they want to stay competitive against some of the best teams in the state. But if the Whitman game taught the Wildcats anything, it’s that they have the resilience to compete against good teams.
“I think that game really gave us some confidence,” Alexander said. “That’s just us as a team; we won’t give up no matter how much we’re down, and we all believe in each other. And as a team, we’re strong, and I think (the Whitman game) will give us that extra stride to make it really far this year.”
