The girls varsity basketball team was defeated by BVN on Thursday, bringing their season record to 6-6. The players were able to stay close to BVN during the first quarter with a score of 6-9, but trailed behind at halftime 11-32, then 24-38 at the end of the third quarter, ending with a final score of 30-53.

“We gave up too many shots starting second quarter, but we fought back in the third quarter, but then let them get back to us,”  junior Deanna Bugarinovic said.

From witnessing the way this basketball game played out, head coach Brian Bubalo said one thing the team has to improve on is playing consistently for the entirety of a game.

“We had some turnovers, we took some bad shots, and the game got out of control and we couldn’t get our composure back,” Bubalo said.  “We have to just continue to be patient, stick to our game plan, and we need to play a full game.”

Aside from these turnovers and bad shots, fouls early on in the game also affected the team.

“At the beginning, they called some fouls that I felt weren’t fair,” Bugarinovic said. “All of our starting five were in foul trouble.”

Despite the fact that the game resulted in a loss, both Bugarinovic and Bubalo said they believed that the team has improved since the beginning of the season.

“We are playing much better defensively, and we are learning  offensively,” Bubalo said. “Defensively, our zones are going well and offensively we’re playing as a team and passing the ball.”

Regardless of the improvements the team has made, Bubalo said  there are still things the team needs to focus on, especially for the upcoming game against BVH.

“Sometimes we have trouble putting the ball in the basket so we got to keep working on that,” Bubalo said. “[Also], we will work on [working] against the [full court defense] to get read for [the game against] Blue Valley, and we will continue to work on finding ways to score.”

Although the team must focus on its close and upcoming games, Bugarinovic stays hopeful and said she thinks the team will be able to win BVN the next time girls varsity basketball plays them.

“I think we’re going to come back,” Bugarinovic said. “I think for sure we’re going to beat North next time.”