On Saturday, Jan.30, the Millard West Girls Varsity Basketball team faced off in a matchup with the Lincoln East Spartans at home. Coming into the game the Wildcats had a record of 3-12 with the Spartans coming in at 7-5, and it was clear Millard West was the underdog coming into the game. 

The first quarter began with Millard West winning the tipoff, however, they missed their opening shot. After a couple misses by each team, Lincoln East was able to get on the board first with a three pointer. Sophomore Libby Hoffman was able to drill a three early in the quarter which was a bright spot for the Wildcats. Throughout the rest of the first quarter, both teams went back and forth, never allowing the other team to gather a large lead. The Spartans utilized a full court press which threw the Wildcats off, and they struggled to put points on the board. Using the full court press allowed Lincoln East to force many turnovers and steals, however, the Wildcats were able to stay close as they played strong defense of their own. Millard West was able to share the ball well throughout the first quarter, and when they could get past the press, they had lots of success. As the first quarter was nearing a close, the Spartans were able to string together a couple of layups and ended the quarter with a 17-11 lead.

“We tried to overcome the press by attacking it with passes down the court,” head coach Marc Kruger said. “Unfortunately, we really struggled to even get the ball in bounds, and ball handling against pressure is something that we have struggled with all year.” 

The second quarter started with the ball in the hands of Lincoln East, and they drilled a three right off the bat, stretching their lead to 20-11. The Spartans also utilized the full court press during the second quarter, and it created many problems for the Wildcats. Millard West’s strong defense from the first quarter quickly faded. Lincoln East was able to string together a couple of steals and buckets and got out to a 19 point lead, making the score 30-11 in favor of the Spartans. After this strong run by Lincoln East, the rest of the second quarter went back and forth between the teams, the Wildcats were able to get layups from senior Laney Schipper, sophomore Makenna Scholting and sophomore Grace Kelly, giving Millard West six more points before halftime. The Wildcats defensive presence also returned, and they were able to hold the Spartans to only four more points before halftime. The score going into the break was 34-17 Lincoln East. 

“We were trying to be positive and wanted to change things up so that we could get better at the thing[s] we struggled on,” Scholting said. “Defense is definitely the thing we need to improve on because for the teams that can shoot we are not able to play zone so we have to play man and we need to focus on that more.”

The Wildcats started the third quarter and the goal was clear; erase the deficit. Millard West knew they needed to take advantage of every possession if they wanted to mount a comeback. The Wildcats were able to get the first points of the third quarter via a Hoffman three pointer, a good start to trying to get back into the game. However, the Spartans were not letting their foot off the gas pedal, making it very difficult for the Wildcats to put up many points, throughout the game Lincoln East was able to rack up an unbelievable 17 steals. Lincoln East continued to use the full court press, and this created many steals yet again. The Wildcats still couldn’t adapt to the Spartans press, and Lincoln East was able to stretch their lead even further by the end of the quarter. Going into the final eight minutes of play the Spartans had a 52-30 lead.

“During Lincoln East’s press, our problem was that no one seemed to actually want the ball,” Hoffman said. “We struggled because we were pressured a ton, so we were rushed and just wanted to get rid of the ball. We tried to overcome this by slowing our pace to make sure we can actually get the ball across the court. We took our time, and we tried to use ball fakes to prevent steals.”

As the fourth quarter began, it became clear that the Wildcats would need a miracle if they wanted to comeback from this one. Lincoln East continued to put up points as well as play solid defense at the other end of the court. This combination proved to be very effective in the fourth quarter as Millard West was only able to put up 10 points. The game ended with a buzzer beating three pointer by Hoffman, and although it didn’t change the outcome of the game, it was a good way to finish it off. The final score of the game was 66-42 in favor of Lincoln East.

The Wildcats will travel to Westside for an away game on Friday, Feb. 5. This will be another district matchup and certainly a game the Wildcats hope to rebound from a tough loss in this game.