Cheers and shouts came from the crowd in the Ventura College gym on Thursday night as the undefeated girls’ basketball team prepared to play for the League title. Before beginning, seniors Becca Negrete, Leah Kopp, Lexi Woodward, and Haley Lowe were recognized for their efforts to the team and their last year playing basketball for Foothill.

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Cheers and shouts came from the crowd in the Ventura College gym on Thursday night as the undefeated girls’ basketball team prepared to play for the League title. Before beginning, seniors Becca Negrete, Leah Kopp, Lexi Woodward, and Haley Lowe were recognized for their efforts to the team and their last year playing basketball for Foothill. Foothill is now home of the 2016 Girls’ Basketball League Champions, defeating Thacher with a final score of 55-29.

The night’s starters were freshmen Abby Sourwine and Emiline Bova, as well as Negrete, Lowe, and Woodward. The first layup of the game was scored by Thacher but the team came out with a strong start by retaliating with five points immediately after.

At the beginning of the first quarter, Woodward and Emiline Bova assisted freshman Abby Bova for a layup by passing the ball between each other.

They passed it all the way down the court without disruption from the opposing team, allowing Abby Bova an open two-point layup.

At the end of the first quarter, the team was ahead by ten with a score of 19-9.

Coach Jason Edgmond felt that the team played a good offense and took many successful board shots.

“One thing we did well was offensive rebound. The girls really went for the boards and got them. I think the thing they did best was encourage each other throughout the game,”said Edgmond.

In the second quarter, the Dragons didn’t give up any additional points. In their first offensive play of the quarter, a Thacher player slipped, giving up an easy turnover which resulted in an easy layup for Negrete.

The rest of the second quarter continued without any points to Thacher with a final score of 34-9.

Sourwine believed that the team played well, specifically on their defense and shooting.

“We played well together and we got a lot of good shots and had good defense,” said Sourwine.

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The third quarter was a bit slow for the Dragons. After coming back from the ten minute halftime break, Thacher came in scoring 12 points, catching up to the Dragons who had scored four more points in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, Foothill had 34 points while Thacher had caught up with 21 points.

Lowe felt that the team could have been more technical and had better defense.

“I think that we could have done defense better, we could have run a lot more to try and steal the ball,” said Lowe.

In the last quarter, Foothill brought back the 20-point gap between them and Thacher. Sisters Emiline and Abby Bova came in hard, assisting each other and scoring five point for the team.

Right after, Emiline Bova came back again and scored two layups for the Dragons. With a few last points from freshman Cydnie Gutierrez, Foothill took the title of League Champions with a final score of 55-29.

Sourwine felt that the team could have had a better game, but they still enjoyed it all.

“I think we played okay, it wasn’t our best game but we had so much fun,” said Sourwine.

Lowe had similar feelings on how the team played.

“I think we played really well, I think there [were] some things we did well but I felt as a team we were really aggressive,” said Lowe.

Regarding the team’s new League title, Coach Edgmond the team had achieved what they were aiming for.

“It feels really good to set a goal and then be able to go out and accomplish the task. [A record of] 14 and 0 meant the we never had a let down,” said Edgmond.

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Sourwine believed that the team had an “okay” game, but because of her team’s camaraderie and their love of the game they still made it through to the end.

“There’s something about [this] team where no matter how we play or what we do we just have a good time and we love each other so much,” said Sourwine.

Background Photo Credit: Rachel Horiuchi/The Foothill Dragon Press