“Defense, defense, defense!”
Buckingham High School’s crowd’s chants filled the Country Day gym from the very beginning of the game Feb. 17, which the Cavs had to win in order to make it into playoffs.
The Cavs had a slow start to the game, with a halftime score of 11-16.
However, junior Julia Owaidat made two 3-pointers in a row in the third quarter, making the score 19-20.
These 3-pointers caused the Cavs’ crowd to break their deafening silence and begin to cheer louder than the Knights’ players and crowd.
The teams’ points went back and forth until the last seconds of the game, but the Cavs’ strong offensive and defensive momentum allowed the girls to win, 34-31.
When the game ended after freshman Yasmin Gupta scored the last six points for the Cavs (a 3-pointer, a basket and a free throw), the crowd went berserk.
The bleachers bounced up and down under the weight of the cheering crowd, and the players did chest bumps all the way to the weight room.
“After halftime, we played the best that we have ever played,” senior Micaela Bennett-Smith said.
“We were all so overjoyed when we won that we could barely hear each other over the screams of the other (Cavs) and the crowd.”
The high scorer was Owaidat, who scored 21 points, nine of which were 3-pointers.
Gupta scored seven points, with one 3-pointer; sophomore Alexa Mathisen scored one 3-pointer; freshman Katia Dahmani scored two; and Bennett-Smith scored one point on a free throw.
Since this was the Cavs’ last home game, the underclassmen honored Bennett-Smith by thanking her for all of the time that she had invested into the team and for being a strong leader.
The Cavs’ league record is 6-6, and their next game will be a playoff game. The match hasn’t yet been scheduled.
