Coming off a win against the ​​British International School of Washington on Jan. 22, the CESJDS girls’ Junior Varsity basketball team was confident for their game against the BASIS Independent McLean Hawks on Jan. 24. In the first quarter, the Lions quickly gained a 6-2 lead, setting the tone for the rest of the game. They were consistent with both offense and defense, leading them to a 25-15 win.

The Lions’ defense was strong throughout the first half of the game, as freshman Caroline Salz made a critical block to end the half with a 14-4 lead. Throughout the game Salz got multiple important rebounds, and was aggressive going to the basket.

“I think I’ve gotten more confident going to the basket and drawing fouls,” Salz said.

The Lions remained strong throughout the second half, creating a ten point gap that lasted for the entirety of the game. Sophomore and captain Maiya Blumenthal and freshman Brielle Bassin were leading scorers throughout the third and fourth quarters.

Both Blumenthal and Bassin scored career highs in this game. Blumenthal played a big role in securing the win being the highest scorer for the Lions, scoring eight points. Bassin scored a total of six points throughout the full game, including two points in the second half.

Notably, the team was short players because many players from the varsity roster often elect to join the JV roster for games, but the varsity team was in Canada competing in the 2024 Israel Becker International Invitational Basketball Tournament at the time of the game. According to Assistant Coach Devira Friedman, this forced everyone to step up.

“It really was one of our best team performances,” Friedman said.

The Lions have improved over the season, mainly in their teamwork. Their confidence and individual skills have also significantly improved. In this game, their communication created effective teamwork, helping them achieve the win.

“I think we really played as a team and really communicated well, which I think has been, as the season has gone on, one of our strengths,” sophomore and captain Nolyn Ziman said.

Ziman had many rebounds, while freshman Liana Lesser added several defensive steals. Friedman believes that this was the team’s best performance of the season, and cannot wait to watch them grow more.

“I’m excited to watch them the rest of high school and [see] everybody get better at individual things and also playing as a team,” Friedman said. “We’ve come a long way just in the past couple of months, [and] we don’t have that much of the season left but I think it will be exciting to watch everybody grow over the next couple of years.”