Ladies Basketball season plagued by injuries.
Photo by Rebecca Holt
Impressive win against the Denver West Cowboys isn’t good enough to get the Lady Spartans into the playoffs.
The girls’ basketball team took on the George Washington Patriots on Friday the 14th at the Thunderdome, which happened to be a celebration of George and TJ’s 50 years of existence. The girls fell short loosing with a score of 50-22. The Lady Spartans struggled offensively scoring nine points at the end of the first half. However, TJ dominated the Patriots during the third quarter holding the Patriots to 7 points while scoring 10. The Lady Spartans were led in scoring by Sophomore Forward Rebecca Randall with 12 points. “We were hanging with them for a while, and worked just as hard as George. We couldn’t convert on the offensive end while George was hitting their shots. Even though we lost, I believe that this was one of our best performances this season. We never quit and we showed at times during the game that we are just as good as the other DPS teams,” said Randall.
On Tuesday the 16th, the Lady Spartans had the same outcome taking on the Montbello Warriors at Montbello, losing the contest with a score of 54-30. Senior Forward Aryn Grywusiewicz led the Lady Spartans in scoring with 19. The girls struggled from the line converting on 10/19 shooting just 52%, and committed 31 turnovers. The girls came out strong in the first quarter, and were beating the Warriors with a score of 10-8, buthe Lady Spartans unfortunately could not hang on as Montbello hit some three pointers that blew the game open. “We worked hard, and deserved to win. It was unfortunate because we got tired. We just need to bring the intensity against West because it could possibly be the last game of the season,” said Grywusiewicz.
The Lady Spartans in fact did bounce back against the West Cowboys beating them with a score of 55-25. The TJ girls were ahead the entire game and jumped out on top early, establishing a 31-13 halftime lead. Aryn Grywusiewicz was the high scorer once again with 16 points, and not too far behind Grywusiewicz were Seniors Shaleace Jackson and Emily Cordes with 13 and 10 points respectively. “We dominated them the entire game and played well as a team. It’s too bad that it has to end now though,” said Jackson.
These loses have brought the Lady Spartans record to 4-17 on the year, which was not good enough for them to make the playoffs for the second consecutive year. For Seniors Aryn Grywusiewicz, Emily Cordes, Shaleace Jackson, Shanora Ali, Lauren Kelsh, Morgan Bertram, and Joshalynn Green, their high school careers are over. “Although we didn’t make the playoffs, it was a great season. We had a lot of fun this year, and it was great to finish off our senior careers with a win. I’m going to miss the program and the girls in it, but now it’s just time to move on,” said Ali.
“This is not the season that any of us planed or expected. We had great things going for us at the beginning of the season, but then players started getting hurt and one of our top players, Angeline Almagure, moved to Las Vegas. I’m proud of the effort the girls had, and they never quit. They worked hard the entire season, and competed to the best of their abilities every game, even when it was a blow out. I’m going to miss the seniors we lost, but now its time to start preparing for next year,” said head coach Steve Thomas.
