The WA Girls’ Basketball team experienced a loss of 25-60 against Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School (BR) in a home game on Tuesday, Feb. 7, making their season record 5-10. 

One of the main causes of the loss was the lack of zone defense, a play in which each team member guards a specific section of the court and only guards opposing players when they are in their section. The lack of zone defense led to areas of the court being unguarded which allowed Bridgewater-Raynham players to take open three-pointers and jump shots.

BR players were also able to intercept multiple passes and drive the ball to the other side of the court for an easy shot.

“Communicating on our zone defense [is one thing we need to improve on]. We’re still working on it, but it’s definitely a mental mistake. It’s something we could improve on in the future pretty easily,” senior captain Alanna Saunders said. “Our passes could be a little bit crisper and more accurate. But that’s just all mental mistakes that we’ll just work to fix.”

WA received a foul shot early in the first quarter, and sophomore Faith Williams was able to sink the shot and earned the first points of the game. BR immediately drove the ball to WA’s side of the court and was able to make two shots, scoring four points in quick succession.

As the first quarter progressed, BR accumulated 14 more points due to their strong offensive and nearly perfect passes. WA struggled on defense and only managed to bring the score to 4-18 by the end of the first quarter after a three pointer by Saunders. 

Going into the second quarter, BR was able to widen their gap and bring the score to 4-20 while WA continued to struggle with possession of the ball. With a combination of a jump shot and a foul shot made by senior Alex Jones, WA began to collect points again. BR was also able to sink two jump shots though, making the score 7-24. Both teams had gained four points by halftime bringing the score to 11-28.

In the third quarter, BR kept with its trend of consistently executing plays, and extended their lead to 19-48 with a series of  jump shots and three-pointers. Although WA managed to gain eight points in the third quarter, the team missed opportunities to earn points by going in for a layup which led to BR players stealing the ball and driving it to the other side of the court.

“I think remembering certain plays and executing them properly and doing exactly what we’ve been doing in practice [are things we can improve on],” junior Nidhisha Bangaru said. “[For example] instead of going all the way to the basket, pulling up and taking a jump shot would have been helpful.”

BR maintained its performance in the fourth quarter and managed to accumulate twelve more points before the end of the game. WA continued to fight and gained six more points primarily through foul shots and layups, concluding the game with a score of 25-60.

“We played a team tonight that’s one of the top ten teams in the state. These nights happen,” head coach Russell Coward said. “But I was happy with the effort and the attempts to try and keep getting better.”

WA’s next game will be at home against Chelmsford High School at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9.