The Millard West Girls Freshman Basketball team took on the Papillion-LaVista South Titans Saturday, Feb., 9th, and the Cats were on the hunt for revenge after a loss to Papillion earlier that week.

Two days before the match, the team was supposed to take on Elkhorn South, but the game was cancelled as Elkhorn being unable to make it. Papillion-LaVista decided to play them for an extra game and the Wildcats were defeated. Going into their second game against Papillion on Saturday, they had hopes of bringing home a win.

From the beginning it was a low-scoring game, with 3-5 and only a minute left of the first quarter. In the remaining 17 seconds, freshman Jetta Hoffner shoots a two pointer to tie it up going into the second quarter.

“Our team knew we had the skill to beat them, we just weren’t playing the best the first game,” Hoffner said. “I just tried my hardest to help my team in whatever way to prove we could do it the second time around.”

Starting out on tough defense, freshman Emily Longe stole the ball from the Titans. She passed it to freshman Ava Martin who went up for the shot, but the Titans get a foul called on their defense. Martin was then granted two free throws and made both of them bringing the score to 7-5.

Freshman Tierney White attacked the ball, stealing from the Titans three times in just a few minutes and helps bring up the Cats 9-7. After a few more fouls and a three-pointer by Martin, the second quarter ends 12-9, with the Wildcats up by three.

High-scoring player Martin was ready to get a rematch against Papillion and show what the Wildcats were truly capable of. She went in expecting a win and with a new mindset for her team.

“Going into that game I was really excited,” Martin said. “I just wanted to prove that we were good enough to beat them and working together as a team, that’s exactly what we did.”

Coming back with fresh minds and renewed effort after halftime, the Wildcats keep their head in the game to fight for a win. The Cats started with the ball and kicked the quarter off with a lay-up by White. The Titans got the ball back only for White to steal it right away, passing it to freshman Grace Hoffman who went up for a three pointer swoosh. In the most points scored quarter, it’s 22-17 going into the fourth quarter.

Having the most steals in the game, White stayed tough on defense while scoring on offense, too. She made sure to do what she could for her team so they avoid a second loss to the team.

“I think we came out really strong as a team and did what we could,” White said. “We had to make sure that we listened well to the coaches and kept pushing to score consistently throughout the game to pull out a win.”

With a score so close the Cats got ready to fight. Continuing hard on defense and making great shots, the score was up to 27-21 with three minutes left. From there on it was a Wildcat game, only four more points scored, making the final score 30-22 and the Wildcats defeated the Titans.