The girls varsity basketball team faced the New Bedford Whalers in a round of 32 game on Friday, March 3 in the Schluntz Gymnasium. The Warriors beat the Whalers 64-45, bringing their season record to 17-4. The Warriors will host Springfield Central in a round of 16 game on Wednesday, March 8 at 6 p.m.

Before the game began, the Warriors took a knee to unite against racism. After the national anthem, the players prepared for tipoff. Senior and guard Margo Mattes won the tipoff for the Warriors, gaining crucial possession at the start of the game.

According to head coach Kendell Jones, the Warriors’ strategy heading into the game was to have a strong defense in order to safeguard their chances.

“I’m a defensive-minded coach. With offense you may come into a game and not get a shot but defense is all effort as long as the players are communicating together,” Jones said.

Although the Warriors won the tipoff, the Whalers opened the scoring with a free throw after drawing a foul in the paint. The Warriors quickly rebounded as senior and guard Faith Rothstein picked off a pass and sent the ball up the court to Mattes, who secured a layup while getting fouled in the process.

The score remained tight for much of the first quarter. Numerous defensive and offensive plays by senior and guard Talia Thompson kept the Warriors in the game. However, the Whalers were able to counter the Warriors’ success by drawing fouls in the paint and winning free throws.

After shutting the Whalers’ offense down on multiple possessions, senior and guard Geanna Bryant edged the Warriors into the lead with a three-pointer. The first quarter ended with another three-pointer, a buzzer beater by Mattes, leaving the score at 20-13.

The second quarter opened with attacking plays from both sides. Mattes side stepped two Whalers players to score a layup for the Warriors, while a Whalers player made a nice move to the hoop and matched the Warriors with another layup.

As the second quarter unfolded, the Warriors began to expand their lead. Diligent defense from Thompson along with impressive offensive plays led by Mattes and Bryant put the Warriors up 33-19 with roughly three minutes remaining in the half. The second quarter also saw increased energy from both the bench and the crowd, with each basket sending them into a frenzy.

The Whalers suffered multiple travel calls and turnovers, contributing to their problems both offensively and defensively. With only seconds left in the half, a full court pass was sent up to junior and guard Gigi McMahon, where she scored a layup to give the Warriors an even larger lead of 37-19 at the end of the half.

The cheerleading team showed a passionate and lively performance at the half, sending the crowd into applause.

With the Warriors leading 37-19 after the break, the Warriors came alive, playing with an intensity greatly increased from the previous half according to Jones.

“The break really helped us; we were slowing down towards the end of the third quarter but the break allowed us to re-energize and get back out there to continue the game,” Jones said.

According to Jones, while still having a heavily defensive strategy, the third quarter saw a shift in defensive and offensive communication and fluidity.

“It took us until the third quarter to warm up and get adjusted but once we started warming up, we got cooking on the defensive end, we started running, our defense turned into our offense,” Jones said.

The third quarter began with the Warriors taking possession of the ball. The first minute saw many attempted shots on both sides with many rebound turnovers. Mattes scored the first point of the quarter with a rebound layup, bringing the score to 39-19.

Mattes then continued her attacks with a series of break away rebounds. She single handedly scored the first six points of the third quarter, bringing the score to 43-19 and further cementing the Warriors’ lead. According to Mattes, her performance was only a smaller part of the team’s efforts not to let the lead slip.

“I came out pretty strong. I was doing well on both sides of the court, a lot of the game is closing when you’re up at the end so I think myself and the team as a whole did a good job closing that game and not giving them any momentum,” Mattes said.

By the middle of the third quarter, the Warriors had increased their lead to 45-21 after McMahon scored a breakaway layup. With three minutes and 25 seconds left in the quarter, both teams jumped on the ball in an attempt to gain possession. The Warriors gave up the ball and the Whalers began a scoring streak, getting six points on the board in under a minute.

After a number of layups and three-pointers by the Warriors, the third quarter ended with a score of 55-32.

The Warriors began the fourth quarter with possession. Similarly to the third quarter, Mattes opened the scoring by securing a layup.

With a high scoring quarter each team gained nearly 20 points. With seven seconds remaining sophomore and guard Olivia Zanini dribbled out the clock, giving one last symbol of victory before the clock hit zero and the score rested at 64-45.

Jones said he expected the Warriors would make it this far and expects the future games to be more difficult.

“I expected us to get as far as we are. My goal is to go further, our expectations are high. I’m not satisfied with where we are now so I want to keep going,” Jones said.

According to Mattes, the team shares the coach’s ambition and has been working hard to make it to the state championship tournament.

“We’re doing a lot of conditioning before practice and a lot of shooting after practice,” Mattes said. “What we do in practice is important, but for individuals it’s everything that you’re doing in between that matters so it’s making sure we’re all holding ourselves accountable and doing the little things.”