Junior Aaron Kirkpatrick stole the ball from the McLean Mustangs and sprinted across the court in a matter of seconds. Kirkpatrick passed the ball to freshman Eli Gordon, who proceeded to make a clean layup extending their lead.

The JV boys basketball game against the McLean Mustangs contained a lot of clean, fast plays that resulted in them winning the game 78-14.

The game started with sophomore captain Daniel Cohen scoring a three-point shot within the first minute of the first quarter. It was soon followed up by many layups and three-pointers by Cohen, Gordon and junior captain Ryan Bauman. By the end of the quarter, CESJDS secured their 22-point lead and prevented the Mustangs from making any shots.

Throughout the rest of the first half, the team let McLean score only three points. They kept their energy up and had plays that lasted only seconds. Even though they had a large lead, they continued to work hard and ended the first half at 47-3.

“I learned to never underestimate our opponent because we did that the first time we played the team and we only won by 27,” Bauman said. “Today, the scoreboard really showed that we didn’t underestimate them.”

In the second quarter, the Lions subbed in some of their players who had not been in yet. The subs proved their abilities, with freshman Sam Melnick scoring 13 points. McLean was able to start scoring, but they did not come close to closing the gap.

The Lions wrapped up the game by stalling for the last 20 seconds in order to prevent McLean from scoring even though it was impossible for McLean to close the gap at that point.

The Lions played the entire game well and with a lot of determination. The Mustangs were unable to keep up with the Lions; they were short-handed with only seven players in total.

“In practice our ability to really pick on different things defensively kind of messed them up a little bit and allowed us to be able to get a lot of points from turnovers today,” Middle School PE teacher and coach Brian Westerman. “I think ultimately what contributed to our win was our work ethic.”