The women’s varsity basketball team entered the gym to stands filled with fans on Friday, January 29.
The John Carroll Athletic Leadership Committee made an effort to fill the gym for the women’s game against the St. Paul’s Gators. They gave away free hot dogs and sodas during half time to anyone with a ticket, which members of the committee handed out during school.
Despite the players’ hustle, the first quarter was a low-scoring eight minutes. Due to the large crowd and the JC Pep Band, the gym was filled with energy.
Sophomore Miranda Ripken commented on the crowd’s role in the game, “Whenever someone made a foul shot, everyone stood up and started cheering. It was pretty cool.”
The second quarter started with JC ahead by one point, with a score of 4-3. Junior Amanda Wolfe was the first back on defense and had a steal three minutes into the quarter. She also made a three pointer and a foul shot.
Ripken also contributed defensively with her solid rebounding skills. The quarter ended with the Patriots a down, 12-15.
The Athletic Leadership Committee sponsored activities at half time. The week before the game, members of the Athletic Leadership Committee handed out tickets with their name on it. The student who received the ticket wrote their name on it as well. Before they entered the game, they put the tickets on the table that also received donations.
At half time, ten of the tickets were picked at random. The ten students then had the opportunity to win free pizza from the cafeteria for the rest of the year if they were able to make both a foul shot and a three pointer. None of the chosen students were able to make both shots.
Before the drawing, Assistant Athletic Director Stephanie Maychack counted the number of tickets each of the Athletic Leadership members gave away. The member who sold the most tickets was given the same challenge with a different prize: a limo for a day. Sophomore Emily Soller gave away seventeen tickets and was the winner of the challenge. She was only able to make the foul shot.
In the third quarter, the Gators responded by setting up a full court defense which sophomore point guard Maria Edwards was able to penetrate.
The Patriots scored seven more points in the third quarter, but it was not enough, as the Gators remained in the lead by three.
During the fourth quarter, the team picked up its intensity on defense. However, the Patriots had one crucial play in the quarter where freshman point guard Mackenzie Reese passed the ball to Edwards on the right wing, who passed it to Wolfe down low by the basket, who quickly kicked it back out to Reese up top, where she sank a three pointer.
It appeared like JC was making a comeback. Soller rebounded the ball and shot, earning the team two more points. Wolfe made another basket, but St. Paul’s continued to gain points from their quickly executed plays on offense. Out of the whole game, the highest scorer was Ripken with eleven points.
Overall, the Patriots lost 29-37, but junior Alex Reddell said, “We tried hard as a team. It was nice to have John Carroll support us; we hope they come out again. It’s good to have some school spirit—it makes us play harder.”
Ripken said, “We had some mental lapses due to the crowd and the ref’s calls. However we moved the ball around well and hustled back on defense.”
Coach Mike Blizzard said, “The strong point of the game would be the effort. We’re very young and sometimes it shows, but every game you get better.” The team hopes that students will come out and support it again on Monday at its home game against St. John’s School.
Haley Lynch can be reached for comment at [email protected]