Trojans fail to slay Dragons in eventful basketball game

Full sections of bleachers cheered in the small and loud Bishop O’Dowd gym as the Trojans attempt to slay their rivals. The CVHS girls varsity basketball team suffered a loss against Bishop O’Dowd on Jan. 20, with the final score at 65-50. However, the score doesn’t reflect the ambience and competition on the court, as the game was a close and highly contested match.

“The kids played hard. But we didn’t make the most of our opportunities. We missed around 17 free throws,” said coach Jim Lemmon, who is in his 11th season as the Head Coach.  

The game began and the two teams were constantly neck and neck, continuously fighting for possessions and scoring on a lot of them. The first noticeable feature on the O’Dowd team was their relentless defense and their speed in individual players as well as handling of the ball. However the Trojans’ well organized offensive attack and skill led the teams to a 27-22 halftime score with O’Dowd leading.

The game resumed as intense as it left off with the Trojans’ Bailey Jones scoring within the first 20 seconds of the quarter. However the third quarter proved to be the most devastating for CVHS as the team trailed O’Dowd 47-31. Nevertheless, CVHS kept fighting in the fourth quarter, beginning a 5-0 run in the first five minutes. The final score was 66-52.  

“I definitely think we can improve on chemistry within the team and we can go in sooner to help our teammates,” said junior Sydney Burnama, who has been a varsity player for two years.

Overall the season has gone remarkably well, as the team was undefeated before this (winning 15 games). The Trojans are also ranked within the top 15 in the state, and will get another shot against Bishop O’Dowd to determine their first or second place ranking within league.

 “The environment is so hard to play in and we just kind of lost it…. We play them again at our place so we’re willing to bring it then,” said Burnama. Their rematch against the Dragons is at CVHS on Feb. 9. Be sure to come out to support the girls basketball team!