Week #18 - MS Basketball Badgers Sweep CCA To Close Out 2025!

CCA was aggressive in the second quarter. Their big man ran off eight straight points, and they took the lead. Tandem made some adjustments - Bo and Isaiah tightly guarded their opponents. Will had two steals, and Jayceon another, and Aven and Eli each had three offensive rebounds, providing second chances. Jayceon took advantage - getting to the rim and scoring four in the period. Still, the Badgers trailed at the half 16-13.

 

In the third period, Tandem was struggling to get into their offense. Settling the team down, Kai drove into the paint, and shot a beautiful mid-range floater. A few minutes later, with a defender in his eye, Kai sank another three from the wing! He had 6 in the third. Jayceon had a key putback late in the period, and Tandem trailed 22-21.

 

In the fourth, Trenton decided he was done playing from behind. Set up by Landon, he took the ball to the rim - three times - scoring two lay ups and earning a trip to the line. When he had the opponent on his heels, well, he cashed in a deep three. Between that his pass for a three from Jayceon, the Badgers scored 14 in the final period, outscoring their opponent by 6. Hatcher and Robert helped to salt away the clock, and Tandem won 35-30! 

 

That's a lot of momentum to take into winter break! The team returns to game action on January 13 - at home vs CCS at 5:00.  

 

Hadley and Sam both came to watch the Varsity Girls yesterday. As we watched Maya get another steal off the press, I told them "that's what it's supposed to look like!" They assured me they'd be ready for today - and the proof is in the pudding! With Zoe on the ball, CCA called an early timeout. They knew the press was coming. It really didn't matter. Hadley got a steal and quick lay up. Sam got the next steal, sent it ahead to Hadley and she scored again. Zoe deflected the ball out of bounds. CCA struggled to get the ball across half court.

 

When we dropped back into our half court defense, Zuri was causing a lot of problems for the opponent. They couldn't shoot over her, and after her third block, they chose jump shots instead. Raquel rebounded them, passed ahead to Hadley and she scored in transition, drawing a foul. Hadley had all eight of our points in the first quarter, and Tandem led 8-4.  

 

In the second period, despite a run from CCA, the Badgers kept the pressure on. Alex was a true menace defensively, using excellent defensive position and mirroring their opponent, something Alex has been working on in practice. Zuri and Zoey each had a zillion rebounds and took some high quality shots in the paint! Sunrise was a force on the block, making her first appearance of the season, and earning a big rebound right away! You heard it here first folks, Sunrise is going to be a force on the court in 2026!

 

At halftime, we switched our press, and Sam took on the assignment of guarding the CCA's strongest player. "I'll guard her," she told me, "and she won't get the ball." True to her word, Sam chased her all over the court - resulting in a lot of steals for our defense. Hadley was the main beneficiary, she added another ten points - mostly off lay ups - scoring in transition! With the opposing point guard neutralized, there were a lot of loose balls - and Hattie was always in position. She dove on the floor, securing a number of jump balls, and was not afraid to be in attack mode!

 

Between Hadley's ten and Sam's four - which included a smooth mid-range jumper - Tandem led 26-12 after 3 quarters, holding CCA to just 3 points in the third period (and 3 in the fourth as well!). A big part of that was Cora, who was excellent today. With CCA streaking down the court, Cora stood her ground and drew a CHARGE!! Her defense was exceptional, she was in the perfect position.  

 

To set up our late game offense, and to break the press, Cypress dutifully took on the role of inbounds passer. She always found the open player - Hadley, Sam or Hattie - who then set up her teammates down the floor. Today was our best game of the season - we moved the ball offensively - ran our plays and used our defense to create offense! Cheers to our big scorers - Hadley with a career high TWENTY points, and Sam who added 6!

Well done, Badgers - what a way to go into break! The girls return to action at home vs CCS on January 13 at 4pm.  Lots of work to put in before then!