After a two-game losing streak, the girls varsity basketball team came out prepared against Junction City High School ready to control the court, according to head coach Tiffany Dirks. At the end of the first quarter, the Huskies lead the Blue Jays by just one point, making the score 7-6 going into the second quarter.

Dirks said she attributes the success of the game to how hard the girls work at practice, and how well they implement drills into the game.

“I think that the girls played hard, played together, and executed extremely well tonight,” Dirks said. “We did a really good job of controlling the clock and I think we controlled the possessions very well.”

Playing cohesively as a team can make a huge difference on the court, according to junior Katie Mitchell. She said she believes the team’s chemistry keeps getting stronger every week and is very proud of how her team played tonight.

“It felt awesome to come out, especially because we played so well together,” Mitchell said.

The Huskies started the second half leading the Blue Jays 21-18. Throughout the next quarter, however, Northwest began pulling away, making the score 38-18 at the end of the third quarter. Dirks said the girls were told to adjust the offensive playing style and accomplished it perfectly in the second half.

“We went in and talked about a couple of things we needed to adjust. We worked on [being] more focused on rebounding and having better execution on our offense,” Dirks said. “We were shooting the first shot most times down the court in the first half, so in the second half, we made them rotate the ball around more and get a better shot.”

The Huskies’ defense was able to keep Junction City scoreless throughout the entire third quarter. Junior Ella Burvee explains how she applies her coach’s advice during the game.

“Dirks preaches that defense instigates the offense, and it’s always important to [have a lot of] pressure, rather than the other team in order to get points,” Burvee said

Along with that, Dirks said she believes the defense stepped up immensely in tonight’s game and was a huge contributor toward the final score.

“Our defense really picked up. I thought the girls played extremely well. Pressure defense was excellent and our rebounds helped a lot too,” Dirks said.

Northwest ended the night defeating Junction City 47-27. Burvee said as the season progresses, the team continues to work on their attitudes during each game and recognizes how valuable it is to act united.

“We’ve just been working on our sportsmanship and have gotten a lot better at just being supportive all the time. Learning how to play together really mended us as a team,” Burvee said.

Likewise, Mitchell believes the key to winning games is by playing together as one unified basketball team.

“Having positive attitudes no matter what happens will help us,” Mitchell said. “I think we just need to continue playing as a team.”

The Huskies are scheduled to play in their next game in a tournament at Camdenton High School on Saturday, Jan. 28.