Last night, the R-MA Middle School Girls’ basketball team went to Middleburg to face-off against Hill School. The Yellow Jackets started off hot with their new 1-3-1 style of defense and forced numerous turnovers that led to easy points. Princess Uzoma lead the first half with 9 points before taking a seat and letting other girls try their hand at point guard. Other first half points were scored by Lily Grossman, Jessalyn Brooks, Olachi Agba, and Yazmin Blell – each adding two points to the scoreboard. The score at the end of the half was Hill – 4; R-MA – 15.
With a sizeable lead, many of the younger players saw a lot of court time to further improve upon their skills. This was especially true for Jotrina Vamboi who scored 4 points in the second half. More impressively, the Yellow Jacket’s defense continued to impress by limiting Hill School to only 8 points in the second half. Final score Hill – 12; R-MA – 21.
Notes: Nafisah Muhtar impressed everyone with her off-the-ball intelligence. Setting screens, flashing to the high post, and playing solid defense helped lead the team to victory. Halima Salami was tenacious on defense utilizing her vocal chords to communicate with her team, yelling “SHOT!” and “BALL!” to help create confusion and chaos among the home team. Citlaly Sosa battled motion sickness before the game, but still played some topnotch defense. Not a single point was scored in her zone and she grabbed a handful of defensive rebounds. Caity Cunningham is new to the team, but saw numerous minutes and scoring opportunities. Though no baskets went in, it was impressive to see a young player giving it her all on the court.
Coach Ilnicki