On January 4, the girls varsity basketball team played a home game against the York Suburban Trojans. The Rams ended up winning 54-31.

Looking back at the game, head coach Aaron Eaton said, “It was a good game for us. We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but had a great second half to put the game away.”

The starting lineup for the Rams was: senior point guard Megan Halzcuk, senior shooting guard Megan Thomas, junior small forward Chandler Swanson, junior forward Lexie Kopko, and junior forward Jaedyn McKeon.

“We had pregame practice, where we had shooting drills, we went over the other team’s plays (both offensive and defensive), and we watched tape,” senior forward Lily Dressel said when asked how the team prepared for the game against York Suburban.

The Rams won the tip-off to start the game. After both teams started with a couple of empty possessions, Kopko got the offense going about a minute into the first quarter with a 3-pointer.

After both teams traded buckets, with Rams leading 5-2, the Rams went on a nine point run and got out to a 14-2 lead. The first quarter ended with the Rams winning 16-4.

The Trojans scored in their first possession of the second quarter and made two free throws on their next possession, but the Rams still led 16-8.

Then, with about six and a half minutes left in the second quarter, Halzcuk made a great defensive play to keep the ball in bounds and got the ball to the Ram’s offense. However, the Rams could not execute on the possession.

After making two more free throws, York Suburban trailed 16-10. McKeon was responsible for the Rams’ next seven points and got the Rams back to a 23-14 lead.

The Rams led at halftime, 24-17.

The Rams started the second half with a 10-0 scoring run and extended their lead to 34-17 before York Suburban answered with a bucket.

One scoring run ended, another one began, and the Rams ended the third quarter with 11 unanswered points. The Rams had an explosive third quarter, scoring 21 points, only giving up two points, leading 45-19 going into the fourth quarter.

However, the start of the fourth quarter was the complete opposite of the third quarter in terms of scoring. With about three and a half minutes left in the game, the Rams led 54-26.

While the Rams did not score in the last three and a half minutes of play, the Trojans did, but not nearly enough to make a comeback. The 54-31 win advanced the Rams record to 11-1.

According to Eaton, the Rams’ hard work that they put in everyday in practice has fueled their great start to the season.

“Our girls work hard every day. We talk about having to go out and earn every victory. Our games to finish the season are going to be tough every night,” Eaton also said about the team getting off to an 11-1 start.

The Rams’ best quarter was the third quarter because they were able to move the ball around and that helped progress to an open shot.

When asked who the biggest contributor on the Rams was, junior guard Cloe Thoericht said, “It’s different this year. We don’t have just a few good players, we have a very well-rounded team that can score and move the ball.”

While good offense is always needed to win games, good defense is also needed, and Halzcuk commented that the Rams defense was phenomenal.