The girls’ basketball team found success at the NSAA Class B Girls State Championship, going into the tournament ranked 7th, defeating top teams to find their way to the finals, ending the season with a 20-7 record. In their State run, the Griffins took down #2 ranked Pius X (35-28) in the quarter-finals, where they then defeated #3 ranked Waverly (38-34) and finished their season in the championship, falling 25-37 to the #1 ranked Skutt Catholic.
“It is an insane whirlwind of three days,” Head Girls Basketball Coach Wade Coulter said. “For them to play in a semi-final and to play in a title game, you would have lost a lot of money betting on that a year and a half ago.”
Skutt was ranked #1 the entire season and finished with a 28-1 record. The game was a hard-fought battle, with Skutt as a nearly undefeated team, but the Griffins ultimately lost 25-37.
“It felt like the end of something that I did not want to end,” junior basketball player Taryn French said. “This team has been my family for the last two years.”
To make it to the State finals, the Griffins fought the Waverly Vikings on March 7 in a neck-and-neck fight. The game was a defensive battle, with both teams struggling to find an offensive rhythm. Despite the close final score of 38-34, the Griffins came out on top. During the game, the intensity and speed of the girls picked up when the Vikings took the lead in the third quarter, forcing the Griffins’ offense to sharpen up. The team responded and later took an eight-point lead in the third to shut down the Vikings and then fought their way to a spot in the finals.
“It felt amazing,” French said. “I am most proud of us for all the work we put in preseason and beginning of the season that helped us win big games in the postseason.”
Prior to the Waverly game, the Griffins faced off against Pius X on March 6. Previously, the team had two home losses to Pius (41-46) (41-43), casting the Griffins as the underdog in the State game. They fell right into that role in the first half where they headed to halftime losing, 13-18, leaving them with only 16 minutes to shift the momentum.
“There were some struggles in the first half,” Coulter said. “Being a little bit overwhelmed, focus is on the next one, go make the next play, one bad play can’t turn into three or four bad plays and for the most part, we just kind of made the next play.”
The girls took advantage of every minute in the second half and took a seven-point lead in the third quarter, shifting the tempo. The speed of the game picked up and the girls had a 13-point run and brought the arena back to life. They defeated the Thunderbolts 35-28, sending them to the semifinals against Waverly.
“That was just absolutely unreal,” sophomore basketball player Lily Fredrick said. “We had already lost to them twice, so it felt like it was like the best day ever to finally beat them.”
Despite the Championship loss, the team still feels grateful for the experience.
“I’m just happy that they got to see the fruits of their labor and got to experience that environment,” Coulter said. “It’s pretty awesome to reach the pinnacle of your sport, I’m just really happy they got that experience.”
