South Shore basketball fever has begun and we are more than ready. The high school girls’ basketball team started practice on Nov. 5th. To get a jump start on the season, the team had hour-long morning practices for two weeks. These practices mostly consisted of shooting drills so that they could get to the core skills and techniques during after-school practice. Although the team lost two starters and previous seniors, Heather Ranta, and Signe Branham, they still brought the heat on Friday night with such a young team.

After traveling last year to Lake Holcombe and suffering not only a loss but multiple player injuries on only the first game, the team was ready to take a victory this year. With only eleven players out for this season, the team only has enough for a varsity team at the moment. The game started at 6 p.m. with a pretty good crowd turnout. The starters for the night were Rylee Nicoletti (senior), Myla Lahti (senior), Choe Sipsas (sophomore), Natalie Knaack (sophomore) and Taylor Nicoletti (sophomore). Although the team is primarily young players, all of these sophomore starters played a significant amount of time on varsity last year giving them some experience.

The game started out with Chloe Sipsas winning the tip towards Taylor Nicoletti who quickly snapped the ball to Myla Lahti for an easy lay-up. The game was a little slow going after that with some good defense on the Cardinals’ part but also some missed shots. Close to the end of the first half, the Cardinals caught some fire. Myla Lahti hit multiple three-pointers, and Chloe Sipsas attacked the basket drawing fouls. The team also played great defense with multiple blocks and defensive stops. However, Lake Holcombe stayed on top for the first half ending 26-22.

The second half was a different story, with more intensity and more scoring. Both teams competed fiercely keeping the score very close. With seven minutes left in the second half, the Cardinals were up 35-34 with fouls 9-6. The Cardinals kept an edge on Lake Holcombe making important shots and keeping up the strong defense. With around three minutes left, South Shore was still up 40-36. A steady lead of four points kept the Cardinals ahead with under a minute left, and Lake Holcombe was desperate to score resulting to immediate fouls. After a three-pointer from Myla Lahti and some made free throws from the team, Lake Holcombe had little chance left with 33 seconds left and the score 46-40, South Shore. The Cardinals ended with some solid defense and some free throws from Rylee and Taylor Nicoletti, closing the game 50-40.

Rylee Nicoletti, a senior, comments on their first win, “There were a lot of ups and downs, we were on the floor a lot, we struggled to make our shots, but in the end, we pulled it together and played like the team we truly are and took home the win.”

Leaders of the night were: Chloe Sipsas with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks and steals, & 2 assists. Myla Lahti with 12 points, 4 rebounds, & 1 assist and steal. Rylee Nicoletti with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, & 1 block. Taylor Nicoletti with 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 steal and block. Natalie Knaack had 2 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and steals, and 1 block. Aurora Grant had 2 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 block. Sara Kangas had 3 rebounds and 1 block.