After a nervous first quarter where the Oyster River High School girls’ varsity basketball team didn’t take the lead against Manchester West High School, they knew something had to be done. The Bobcats took home the win 60-27, bringing their record 4-1.
Going into this game on Tuesday January 3rd, the girls were ready and pumped to play. However, during the first quarter, you could tell the nervous energy set in as Manchester took the lead. Randy Kinzly, the girls’ basketball coach, could see the girls getting nervous saying, “I don’t know what was with the girls at the start of the game, but we didn’t start off really well.”
Finishing the first quarter with a score of 12-10, Manchester having the lead, the girls knew they needed to come back and bring the energy for their team. Waverly Oake-Libow (‘23), the team manager saw the team start to pull through in the start of the second quarter. She said, “you could tell they were putting their practice into play in the second quarter.”
The girls played hard, going for the basket frequently and making sure they played their best and it paid off. With a score of 29-16 at the end of the second quarter, Bobcats with the lead, the team knew they were coming back, but still had a bit to go. Caitlin Klein (‘25) stayed positive the entire game, constantly expressing positive touches, which means giving your teammates something like a high five or a pat on the back to let them know they’re doing well. Klein says, “I feel like using the positive touches really help get the team encouraged and hyped up. It’s nice to have the reinforcement.”
With a lead going into the second half, the team was ready to push through and bring home the win for the night. Sophia Duyon (‘24) is one of the team’s captains this year. She was happy to see her team work hard in the third half, saying, “we really picked up momentum and turned it into our game.”
During the third quarter, the Bobcats knew they wanted to keep up their effort to ensure this game was another win. Scoring 19 points in the third quarter, compared to Manchester West who scored 4, the girls could tell this was a turning point for the rest of the game.
The team played strong and ended the game with a score of 60-27, boosting their record and their confidence. Vivian O’Quinn (‘25) scored the most points this game, gaining 12 points for her team. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates giving me great passes and really helping me out!”
Spectator Greg Caron (‘25) was also highly impressed with how well the girls had played noting, “we sunk a couple threes and it was really cool to see.”
The girls return to hopefully bring home another win for their record. They take on Bishop Brady High School’s girls varsity team on January 7th at 3:00 in our gym. With Bishop Brady currently holding a 1-2 record, this is certainly going to be a game you will want to see.
– Tess Brown