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By Kaitlyn Buisch

With arms in the air, junior Claire Kaifes blocks her opponent from passing the ball on Wednesday, Feb 28. The girls won 57-39 against Turner High School.

The girls basketball team reigned victorious over Turner with a final score of 57-39 in their first sub-state game on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

For junior Claire Kaifes, the team struggled to keep up with the other team’s pace during the first half, but eventually came out on top after halftime.

“We started off really sluggish. We definitely underestimated them,” Kaifes said. “In the second half, we really picked it up. I’m glad for the win.”

Being a sub-state game, senior Evan Zars felt the pressure of possible elimination from the playoffs.

“This game was a lot more intense because we knew that we had the potential to go home,” Zars said. “Especially for our seniors, it could have been their last game in high school so everyone wanted to come out and keep playing.”

According to Kaifes, the team split up their practice time in order to focus on strategizing both offensively and defensively.

“We had two days to prepare for the game,” Kaifes said. “The first day we focused on our own offense and defense, while the second day we focused on [Turner] and how they play as a team.”

Despite the win, Kaifes recognizes weaker areas the team showed on the court.

“We could have definitely came out a lot stronger,” Kaifes said. “We could have also pressured them more in the beginning to get the tempo faster.”

Going into the next game, Zars believes the team has room to improve.

“In the future I think we need to play a lot better because [Turner] was not the greatest competition ever but they did come out hard and aggressive,” Zars said. We didn’t really match them in the beginning but the second half was a lot better.”

The girls’ next game is Saturday, March 3 against BVSW at home at 6 p.m.