Only a mere 24 hours after the RBHS boys basketball team lost in a dramatic game against crosstown rival, Hickman High School, the Lady Bruins basketball team took on the Kewpies on enemy court. With the weight of defeat heavy on their shoulders, the girls knew going into the game that this wasn’t just any old match-up, it was going to be a battle. They were able to come out on top in the last quarter to win the game 46-34.
“I think all of us were really focused, and we didn’t want to just do it just for ourselves and our team,” sophomore starter Sophie Cunningham said, “but we also wanted to do it for the school and the boys team because we’re all family, and we just wanted them to know that we cared for them.”
The game started with a slow first quarter — which ended with a 11-5 lead for RBHS — and an even slower second quarter. At the half, the Kewpies were up by one with a tight score of 14-15. The Lady Bruins realized they needed to step up the game.
“I think all of us kind of psyched ourselves out just a little bit so we weren’t really on our best. We weren’t going 100 percent like we could,” Cunningham said. “After the second quarter ended, going into halftime, I think in the locker room, we knew we really needed to focus on what we needed to do and play Rock Bridge basketball.”
With the remembrance of how hard the boys team fought on the court the night before, and now trailing the Kewpies, the girls returned to the court with a hunger for victory. A little into the third quarter, the final push to succeed came when senior Hannah Dressler suffered a fall. Amidst a shocked silence that rang throughout the whole gym, Dressler stood and walked off court, followed by applause from both sides, and didn’t return.
“Honestly, we knew that [Dressler] probably hurt her knee pretty bad,” Cunningham said. “So we went out there and we wanted to do it for her.”
The Bruins were able to regain the lead by the end of the third quarter, and with less than a minute left in the game and a score of 46-31, they were able to hold off the Kewpie offense to end the game with a final score of 46-34. At the end of the day, even though the girls were able to come out with a victory, what hits home the most is taking on any opponent as a family.
“All of us went out there knowing what we needed to do as a team and just sticking together and being a family,” Cunningham said. Dressler’s “the one that really kept us in that game and for the rest of the season — we want to do it for her. So, that’s our motivation for the rest of the year.”
By Daphne Yu