The CESJDS Girls Middle School basketball team soared past the Oakcrest Chargers Thursday evening 25-7, leaving them with a 3-1 record for the season so far. The game began with the Lions getting the tip off and passing the ball to seventh-grade captain Shani Schwartz, who drove to the basket for a floater.

Throughout the first half, the Lions played a tight defense and didn’t let the Chargers past the three-point arch, with several steals by eighth-grader Dalya Offer. While there were multiple missed shots by the Lions, the team worked well together and ultimately were victorious. The Chargers had minimal communication as there were several instances of players missing inbound ball passes, leaving the first half 15-0.

The Chargers made a came back with enhanced communication, causing them to score one point from a foul shot. In the second quarter, both teams were getting to the ball quickly but resulted in the scoring of just two shots throughout the whole quarter.

Near the end of the game, the Chargers started to become more confident with the ball and take better shots. One player made most of the team’s shots, while the Lions also seemed to get more tired, but was able to persist and score six more points.

With five seconds left in the game, the Chargers had possession of the ball and lobbed the ball down the court for one final shot. The buzzer rang as the shot went in, scoring the Chargers two more points, which left the outcome of the game unchanged.

Schwartz thinks the team has built a cohesive dynamic, even though they have only had a few practices.

“We are doing really well, but it’s hard because we have a lot of new players this year and they don’t know all the plays and they don’t know our press break or inbound plays,” Schwartz said.

The Lions had seven of their thirteen players score during the course of the game, which is a considerably high number for the team. The team also had evenly-distributed scoring from their players, which hasn’t happened in previous games this seasons.

Lions coach Brett Kugler weighed in, offering advice to his team’s players about how to improve during future games in the season

“We could’ve been a little more aggressive attacking the boards and getting rebounds, but I thought we played unselfish,” Kugler said.