There are only three seconds left until halftime. The pressure is on. The crowd is sitting on the edge of their seats and sophomore Maya Johnson has the ball. With all her strength, Johnson shoots the ball one-handed into the air at half court and hopes for the best. The ball sinks into the net and the crowd goes crazy over the stunning half-court shot.
This shot set the tone for the rest of the game. On Wednesday, Dec. 7, the women’s varsity basketball team faced the Institute of Notre Dame (IND). The game began with JC’s quick advantage when they won the jump ball. Within the first few seconds of the game senior Miranda Ripken scored the first basket. JC was quick to score again with junior Mackenzie Reese and a fast break assist from senior Maria Edwards.
IND struggled to keep the ball off their defensive side of the court against JC, who dominated on defense by consistently boxing out and rebounding the ball. JC used a full court man-to-man defense against IND to keep the ball on the offensive side. Moving the ball swiftly across the court JC created an opportunity for Ripken to score a 3-point shot. The first quarter ended with a 9 point lead over IND.
During the second quarter, Ripken, Johnson, and senior Emily Soller all scored 3-point shots within a few minutes of each other, keeping JC in the lead. The second quarter ended with Johnson’s half-court shot putting JC ahead of IND 33 to 14.
“Honestly I couldn’t believe it. It felt like a dream. The main thing that went through my mind was how in the world did I throw the ball from half court without jumping, with two people guarding me, and hitting all net on a buzzer beater. I was really pumped,” Johnson said.
The third quarter was slow-moving for IND as JC continued to control the game. JC let one fast break from IND get by them, but they were quick to get the ball back. The third quarter ended with JC leading 53 to 32.
In the final quarter of the game JC worked hard to move the ball down the court in attempt to score more points. Three consistent fast breaks by Reese and senior Talia Kahoe bumped JC up 68 to 40. Although IND put up a fight near the end scoring a final buzzer shot, JC was victorious against IND, 68-45.
“I was extremely nervous since it was our first in-conference game and I knew we had to come out ready to play with intensity.
We played a great all-around game and the outcome was what I expected and I think what the whole team expected,” said Soller.
JC continues their season with a game this Saturday against South River at Mello Center.
Megan Battaglia is a Multimedia Editor for The Patiot and jcpatriot.com.