vs. Cy Creek

On Tuesday December 10th, the Varsity Girls Basketball Team traveled to Cy Creek for their first District game of the season. The Spartans had to wait to take the court while the Cougars honored their 6-foot-3 Junior center for reaching the 1,000-Point Club. The Spartans' Sophomore guard, Tess Stephenson, stands just shy of six-feet and beat the Coug's center for the opening tip. Senior guard Rachel Ashby, truly a quarterback on the court, executed an actual hand-off to Stephenson to start the scoring. Ashby was everywhere in the first quarter, keeping the ball moving on offense and driving Cougar ball-handlers crazy with her tenacious defense. Ashby scored after being freed up by a pick from Sophomore forward Sophia Prejean and it was 7-1, Spartans. There was great ball movement by the Spartans, but the shots stopped falling and the Cougars clawed back. Stephenson scored four points in the last 71 seconds, and the Cougars led 12-11 going into the second quarter.

Ashby went coast-to-coast to score, but her outside shot was often just a bit short. So was Stephenson's. It wasn't surprising since this was only their second game of the season after a very long and successful volleyball ride. At 5:34 in the second quarter, the Cougars' 1K-scorer left the game for good with an injury. The Spartans had been playing solid defense on her, including Senior forwards Kendall Davis and Bella Perroni, but she was still a lot to handle. Sophomore guard Riley O'Connor got the assist off the out-of-bounds play to Stephenson. Perroni scored down low with the assist to Stephenson. Ashby broke down defenders on her way to the basket and scored. Frankly, there wasn't a Cougar defender who could guard Ashby, and the best one they could throw at her got into foul trouble because of it. Senior guard Meghan Hallmark forced a steal and turned it into a fast-break score. The Cougars stayed in the game with second-chance points. O'Connor passed off the out-of-bounds play to Stephenson, and her three-pointer tied the game 25-all at the break.

The Spartans started to find their offensive groove in the second half. Ashby tested the outside and found Stephenson on the inside for a bucket. O'Connor hit Stephenson in the left corner for another trey. Stephenson drove the lane, spun left, and laid the ball in with her left hand. Davis dropped in a 10-footer on the left baseline, was fouled, and made the free throw. Stephenson made a heady play when she saved the ball from going out-of-bounds on the sideline, and Ashby turned the pass into a drive to score. It was 37-29 when Ashby picked up her fourth foul at the 3:03 mark and went to the bench for what would be an extended period. At least three of those fouls were the kind that made fans wonder what the heck the refs thought they saw. You could see the confusion on Ashby's face each time. Sophomore guard Camille Warren converted a running bank shot. Stephenson scored on a drive with seconds remaining, and the score was 41-37 at the end of the third quarter.

Gibson rebounded her own shot and was fouled on the put-back. She converted both free throws. Stephenson took over the fourth quarter. She initiated a fast-break with the outlet to O'Connor and Senior guard Aria Taylor ended up with the ball and the bucket. Stephenson went coast-to-coast to score. She grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled, and made both free throws. The Cougars threw their defense at her and she smartly found Davis open for two, and it was 51-44. Ashby returned to the court midway through the fourth. Davis scored again off the assist from Ashby. The Spartans' defense held, and the final was 55-44.

The Spartans converted 12 of 15 free throws to shoot 80%. Stephenson got a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds, plus three blocks, and three assists. Ashby had 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Davis had seven points and nine rebounds. O'Connor had four assists, and Gibson had four rebounds.

vs. Northbrook

On Friday, December 13th Northbrook arrived for a Stratford home game. They did not have the talent to compete with the Spartans, and that was without Stephenson on the court. Instead of delivering pain to the Raiders, she was hopefully pain-free after her wisdom teeth had been removed. Northbrook gave up 28 steals to Stratford. Ashby alone forced 10 of them in just 14 minutes of action. She was an absolute terror to their ball-handlers. Lloyd shot three-for-three from three-point land and finished the game with 13 points in just 13 minutes of play. She was a microwave! O'Connor had eight points and four steals. Senior forward Gretchen Loveless had five points and five rebounds. The Spartans (8-7) are 2-0 in District play and go to Jersey Village on Tuesday.