The year has started which means high school basketball has started as well—or, well it’s continuing. On Friday, January 12, 2024, our Varsity basketball team faces a large rival, Liberty. It being a home game and also senior night kept the spirits alive! Coach Marcus (the varsity coach for basketball) has brought his team to win. The game starts with Liberty on offense and Ridge on defense, as these boys watch the ball and try to stop the player from shooting, the athlete from Liberty makes it past defense and scores. Ridge is on offense again and failed to make the point and the ball was passed onto Liberty. Ridge has changed up their players so now there are new players on the court to try and score. From the throw in #0 Andy Saeva, passes it to #24 Dallin Smith then to #2 Vikram Thevar then back to #24 Dallin Smith and he shoots! But then misses and now Liberty is back to offense. #0 Andy Saeva gets the ball from #2 Vikram Thevar, and he shoots! And he scores!
The first points for Ridge have been secured. Liberty scored again with 4 points ahead of Ridge. Ridge gets the ball again but a player from Liberty bounces it out of bounds. The score is now 3:6, Ridge is not looking good but maybe the tides will change. Who knows? The score is still the same. Liberty got the ball and scored 3 more points. Now Ridge has the ball again and #0 Andy Saeva, is back at it again scoring more points! Liberty with another 3 pointer now they are double Ridge’s score. As the game goes #24 Dallin Smith got the ball and then scored which got Ridge up to 9:12. With 44 seconds left in the 1st quarter the score was 15:17 with Liberty currently in the lead. With the first period over it was not looking too bright for Ridge, but they could totally change the tides and pull ahead. With the support of the crowd and their fellow teammates, success may be near.
With the second quarter starting, Ridge is at 15 points and Liberty is leading at 19. The crowd is cheering loudly and the student section is full because it is senior night and the theme is pink out. You would see many people wear bright colors to support their seniors and their last year in high school. Kicking off the 2nd quarter Liberty is on offense, but Ridge steals the ball back and attempts to score but the ball is stolen, and Liberty scores. After scoring, Liberty steals the ball from Ridge’s #0 Andy Saeva. Ridge makes a comeback and the ball ends up in #11 Logan Dudley hands and he shoots a 3-pointer and scores! As the scores are now 18:23 Coach Marcus makes a substitution for #1 Peyton Dennis to #4.
2 minutes left on the clock and the ball is in Liberty’s hands once again and they almost score but Ridge gets the ball back. As more plays go on Liberty has the ball but one of the players tosses the ball and #5 Jaiden Thompson grabs it from mid-air and shoots, and then he scores! Another substitution #11 Logan Dudley for #24 Dallin Smith and now the game is back into play. Only a minute left on the clock and #0 Andy Saeva, gets the ball and shoots it which gains Ridge 3 more points. #0 Andy Saeva, is on a roll! 13 seconds left and #5 Jaiden Thompson has gotten the ball but Liberty stole the ball once again. With only 1 second on the clock, there was not enough time for them to score, resulting in the end of the 2nd quarter.
Now it is on to the halftime show with Ridge Cheer being the main focus of the show. Varsity Pom have their performance up and going. With it only being 10 minutes, Varsity Pom only had one performance. As the teams go to strategize and plan out their next moves the crowd is left to mingle and get up for snacks. Now the 3rd quarter starts up with the possibility of Ridge to pull ahead, with the scores being 29:31. Ridge is starting on offense and goes in for the shot but one of the players ends up getting pushed resulting in a foul for Liberty. #24 Dallin Smith shoots and he scores bringing Ridge up to 31 points and now both teams are tied.
The defense is tight and it succeeds because Ridge gets the ball back! #5 Jaiden Thompson starts with the ball and goes to score all in one, but does not pull through and Liberty gains the advantage of getting the ball back. Ridge is on the offense and #1 Peyton Dennis passes it to #5 Jaiden Thompson and he is almost out of bounds and attempts to pass it to #0 Andy Saeva, but instead gives it to Coach Marcus. The sportsmanship of these players is great. They don’t get mad at each other and give each other high fives for their achievement. Kudos to these boys for being such good athletes! The 3rd quarter is coming to an end and Liberty scores 2 points in the last seconds. Ridge is falling a little behind, but can still pull through in this next half; the 3rd quarter is ending with scores of 45:58.
The 4th quarter has started with hopefully Ridge pulling through and winning this game. The crowd is wild and many are rooting for Ridge to pull through and win! Liberty starts on offense and the ball bounces off the rim and the ball rebounds and goes out of bounds on Liberty. Now Ridge is on offense as #24 Dallin Smith passes the ball to #5 Jaiden Thompson he tries to give it to #2 Vikram Thevar and it is intercepted by Liberty and they score. #0 Andy Saeva, has a free throw and scores; he goes for it again, and scores once again! He scores both which is starting to bring Ridge closer and closer to Liberty. With Ridge on offense Liberty scores but Ridge gets the ball back and brings them back to offense while #24 Dallin Smith passes it to #2 Vikram Thevar he takes the chance and he shoots ….and he scores!
The score now being 54:62 Ridge is only 9 points from overtaking Liberty. Ridge gets the ball back and #2 Vikram Thevar attempts a 3 pointer and succeeds in gaining his team more points! The crowd is wild and the players are tense while Ridge is fighting to get the lead. Liberty is trying to keep the upper hand and win the game overall. Will Ridge pull through and succeed or will they not? Well, we’ll find out soon since there are about 5 minutes left in this match. The score is 59:64 #0 Andy Saeva, gets the ball and passes it to #5 Jaiden Thompson and he gives it to #1 Peyton Dennis to make the shot and he shoots a 3-pointer and he makes it! With 1 minute and 30 seconds left on the clock, things are looking tense. The score is 67:69 ridge needs at least 3 more points to overtake Liberty and win. Liberty makes a successful 3-pointer, but the ball is passed to #0 Andy Saeva who tried for a 3-pointer but it unfortunately bounced off the rim. Now Ridge has the ball back once again in #5 Jaiden Thompson’s hands and he goes for a 3 pointer and makes it! In the last seconds, they fight for the ball but no one gets it and Liberty wins. The score was Ridge; 71 and Liberty; 76.
Ridge was very close to winning this game and they put up a huge fight, pulling ahead a couple of times and inching closer and closer to Liberty. These boys tried their hardest and, even if they didn’t win, they still did the utmost best that they could have done. LETS GO RIDGE!
