The girls’ basketball team (15–6) fell to the B-CC Barons in the regional semifinal on Monday night.
With a fiery start to the game, Whitman automatically started to control the court. Junior captain Eva Leonhardt stole the ball from B-CC and passed it to junior Kaylah Tchoufa to get the crowd going early. Leonhardt then hit a beautiful three-pointer but B-CC didn’t take this lightly. The aggression from the Barons continued to rise eventually resulting in an extremely aggressive game. Tchoufa was a monster on the court with insane ball movement and footwork, weaving through B-CC players to score often. Whitman continued on the prowl, with constant steals from sophomore Leela Patel and senior captain Faith Gardner-Johnston. The Barons started to get pushy when the quarter ended 18–16 with B-CC holding the lead. The Vikings started the quarter off strong with freshman Raquel Cruz hitting a huge three-pointer to tie up the game making the crowd go crazy. Cruz continued to present incredible plays on offense throughout the game. The team decided to fight back, matching the Barons’ aggression, resulting in fouls. Gardner-Johnston harbored three layups in a row, steal after steal with help from junior Kathryn Marquardt’s blocking. The half ended with B-CC in the lead by three points, points the Vikes are determined to win back.
Whitman started the half tight, with junior Claire Ramsden passing to Gardner-Johnston for some effortless layups. Senior captain Meera Krishnan was also persistent with the layups and rebounds, staying light on her feet to move swiftly around the Barons. B-CC ended up racking up fouls after getting frustrated with Whitman’s scoring potential, resulting in lots of free throws. The score stood at 49–46 with B-CC in the lead heading into the last quarter. Gardner-Johnston set the tone with a three-pointer making the crowd go wild. The game entered a back-and-forth stage with each team neck and neck. With three minutes left Whitman finds themselves down by eight points. Coach Kenah decides a timeout is needed to discuss the game plan. B-CC ended up fouling, giving Whitman some free shots to close the gap in the score. The Barons were in the right place at the right time, making some game-changing baskets to leave a 10-point gap with one minute left. Kenah puts all five seniors into the game, Faith Gardner-Johnston, Meera Krishnan, Olivia Hansel, Sophie Castleberry and Emerson Fezza to finish off their last season. Ultimately, the Barons came out on top with a near-perfect game, where they hardly made any mistakes.
The Vikings had arguably one of their best games of the season, but B-CC just happened to have one of their best games as well, pulling off the win 63–55 to move on to the regional finals.
