Though the match started evenly, the Wildcats boys basketball team lost to Glenbard South on Jan. 30.
The Raiders came into the game more eager for the ball than the Wildcats did, which has become a noticeable pattern.
Due to the energy the Raiders brought from the beginning, the Raiders ended the first quarter in the lead by 13 points.
In the second quarter, the Wildcats had numerous attempts at the basket and struggled to get one in. Senior Ryan Slattery and junior Jonathan Ocampo continuously made their attempts at layups.
“We didn’t let bad moments change the way we play,” senior AJ Rotger said.
After halftime, the Wildcats came back with a new boost of energy. Although the Wildcats trailed the Raiders throughout the entire game, they changed their choice of play to be both quicker and sharper. With the crowd on the edge of their seats, it was a noticeable change that the Wildcats brought to the court. Closing the gap in the score. It became as close as 31-39 with the Raiders in the lead.
“We expected it, but we just had to keep our foot on the gas,” Rotger said.
Freshman Ashton Hollin, who recently became a starter for the Wildcats squad, was quick with his passes. The approach the Wildcats took to this game was to always be moving the ball, even if they needed a minute to reset. Hollin was able to fill in the open spots to receive and pass the ball out to his teammates.
While passing the ball from player to player, everyone was looking for an opportunity to take their shot. With as many attempts as they took, not enough of them were able to make it into the basket.
“We had a good effort. We just needed to execute more shots and make them,” Hollin said.
According to some, the student section at sports events has been “boring” lately. However, this game kept the students on their toes. At the beginning of the game, all were sitting on the bleachers, but by the fourth quarter, they were all seen standing and chanting.
Going into the fourth quarter, the intensity stayed high. The Wildcats kept “their foot on the gas” and continued to close the score gap. With only four minutes remaining on the clock, the score was 37-43 with the Raiders in the lead. This caused the coaches of both sides to call many timeouts to communicate with their team about their next move.
Although the Wildcats finished the game off stronger than how they came into it, it was not enough to bring the Wildcats to the win. The final score was 41-56, bringing the Wildcats to yet another loss.
The Wildcats have kept a decent student-fan section during this season. According to senior Thang Thang, the students will continue to show up even through the hardships the team has gone through during this season.
“I love how the players kept showing up, too. I love how they show how much they love this sport and how much they care for our school and our pride, and I love how they kept going on even through the second half of the game, even though the first half went really bad and the second half might win bad too. They kept showing up and showed full strength. I love that,” Thang said.