Breaths draw in as players are led into the home of the warriors. Red, white, and yellow spread to their hoop as the Tigers prepare by shooting shots of their own. Nerves are heightened as the clock runs down.
On Thursday, January 23, at Red Cloud, the Tiger Girls Reserve B Team went against the Varsity Warriors for the first time. With Red Cloud being undefeated so far in the season, and reserve looking for a win, both teams gave it their all.
As the Tigers prepared to play the Red Raiders, many teammates said nerves started to swell, as they had never played them before.
“It was like mixed feelings; I was nervous and I knew they were good,” freshman Avery Johnson said.
From the tipoff, Red Cloud immediately made headway. Starter Natasha Tockey jumped for Hastings, and Red took control driving for an easy layup. After the first few plays, the Warriors shot confidently from the three-point line, as defenders Joe Hein and Tockey chased rebounds. As the Tigers figured out how to get past Red Clouds’ defensive pressure, freshman Avery Johnson drove toward the basket to attempt a shot. Johnson was fouled, but still, the girls were left with Red Cloud up 0-6.
Later in the first quarter, things started to advance. From the side, freshman Harper Rundle pushed hard on the Warriors’ heels as she smacked the ball, giving her the game’s first foul, and confidently blocking the shot. Still behind, Hein rebounds the ball in by throwing a pass to Cierra Brown, who shoots for a two, at the two minute mark, putting points on the board.
With 11 seconds left of the first quarter, Brown finds an opening and drives to the hoop, making it her second shot of the night. Again, Hein knocks the ball out before the offense can grab it and gains a rebound, but by the end of the first quarter, the ball had been turned over several times, still leaving Hastings down by a score of 4-18.
In the second quarter, the Tigers continued trying to get shots up, but with the Warriors anticipating moves, they could not catch up to the score. Although Hastings got more shots, miscommunication on the court led to numerous turnovers and out-of-bounds plays. Red Cloud continued to hustle the Tigers gaining even more points.
As the Tigers came from halftime, the energy didn’t stop. The girls came out with their heads high, even with the low score.
“Once we got to halftime, it was obvious we weren’t winning. You gotta just kind of try to improve yourself even if you know you’re not gonna win. We actually played pretty well; coming from a girl on a team that’s never played basketball before, we’re doing pretty well,” Rundle said.
Finally, with five seconds left, the score was 9-55, and the fourth quarter ended. As the game came to a close, the Tigers kept their heads up, cheering each other on as they entered the locker room.
“The team was so much better than us, but it kind of helped me to see what it would take to be better in the future, not necessarily now, because it’s my first year, but I think I can take those things and apply them in the future,” sophomore Timberlyn Foster said.
Taking another loss didn’t end with their heads hung, but it ended just the opposite; the team took it as a chance to learn how to get better and learn from the mistakes made from a lost game.
“Everyone has to start somewhere. You have people like Avery [Johnson] who has been playing basketball since she was in second grade and people who just started playing last year; I just feel like people are all different levels, so I just think it’s nice to have teams where you can just grow and play at your level or higher,” Rundle said.
