In their 2024-2025 seasons both boys and girls varsity basketball struggled to bring back a district win. Despite their losing streaks, in two heated matchups, both teams turned it around, beating the Manor Mustangs on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
The girls started off the first half keeping a close match against Manor, with junior guard Rishikha Kossireddi scoring the first two points of the game on the freethrow line, ending the first quarter tied, 7-7. Later, the Lady Mavs remained defensively strong in the second quarter. An offensive foul on the Mustangs set off a defensive run for the Lady Mavs, only giving up ten points to Manor, ending the half down, 14-17.
“We had really good ball movement in the first play of the game,” Kossireddi said. “I had an open shot at first but I decided to pass and, when it came back to me I took the shot and made it to the free throw line, I was pretty nervous, but super excited when both shots went in.”
The boys game started similar to the girls, remaining neck and neck to the Mustangs for the entirety of the first half, ending the first quarter up 16-14. Not allowing Manor to gain a lead, the Mavs walked into the half ahead of the Mustangs 30-25.
“We knew they ran zones, so we did a lot of zoning work in practice to prepare for the game,” senior guard Cole Szewczyk said. “We moved the ball a lot more than we usually do, and were hitting a lot of our shots.”
Walking into the second half of the game, the girls struggled both offensively and defensively, unable to score in the first few minutes of the third quarter, allowing the Mustangs to gain a ten point lead on the Lady Mavs. Gaining momentum, the Lady Mavs took advantage of long offensive runs and successfully caught up to the Mustangs in the fourth quarter. The Lady Mavs lock-down defense only allowed Manor to score four points for the entire fourth quarter. Junior guard Tierra Green secured two necessary points in the final seconds of the quarter, tying it 31-31, leading to overtime.
“I didn’t even realize that the score was that close at first, I thought it was a lot bigger of a gap, so I was just trying to get us some points on the board,” Green said. “I just took the ball, and I heard everyone cheering and watched the shot go in, we were pumped to go into overtime.”
The boys picked up their defensive efforts into the second half, and gained a significant lead on the mustangs. Junior guard Greyson Fell’s 16 points and four three point shots, as well as the Mavs 55% three point percentage compared to Manors 20% three point percentage contributed heavily to the Mavericks win, ending the game 66-48.
“It felt so good to get the win because we hadn’t gotten one in a long time,” Fell said. “We worked really hard and practiced and prepared well, so it feels extra good bringing home the win.”
The Lady Mavs and the Mustangs remained head to head in overtime keeping a tight score. In the final moments of overtime Manor took off down the court attempting a final three-point shot to catch up to the Lady Mavs, but the shot was blocked by junior guard Sienna Fell, ending the game 40-37.
“Getting this win felt amazing because it was our first district win of the season,” Kossireddi said. “We all got so hyped up on the bench, and were all united as a team overall, that consistent energy, really helped us get the win.”
