On Tuesday night, the South Windsor Girls Varsity Basketball team lost their away playoff game against the E.O. Smith, ending their season for the year. South Windsor was in the game up until the 4th quarter, but E.O. Smith went on a devastating 4th quarter run to close the game by a final score of 69-44.

The Bobcats came out fast in the game taking an early lead by beating E.O Smith in transition after stopping them with their intimidating zone on several possessions. Freshman star, Maria Galley, talked after the game about the performance, “I think that we started off extremely well and definitely came out strong. We were working well all together, and everyone was hitting their shots.”

E.O. Smith started to find their stride heading into the 2nd quarter as they also used their zone to force South to turn it over and take bad shots. Throughout the 2nd quarter, South came out hitting their shots and passing well through the zone of the Panthers. The Bobcats did a good job of disrupting shots throughout the quarter but fouled too often allowing the Panthers to stay in the game. At the end of the half, E.O. managed a one-point lead of 28-27.

Both teams came out scoring hot in the third quarter with multiple baskets from senior guard Khalise Harris and Michelle Labonte. E.O Smith senior guard Taylor Verboven was trouble for the Bobcats all night hitting several 3’s and driving and dishing out of the Bobcats’ zone.

The Bobcats, unfortunately, hit one of the coldest streaks of the season in the 4th quarter where they only managed to score 6 points. E.O. Smith decided to use a press for the majority of the quarter, which frequently caused the Bobcats to force a bad shot, turn the ball over, or lose the ball while breaking the pressure. The Panthers would go on to outscore the Bobcats by 23 points in the 4th and advance to the next round of States.

“I think the turning point of the game was when they started to hit their shots, and we started to lose the ball too much,” said Maria Galley, “Unfortunately I think we started to get down on ourselves, but I liked how we fought till the end and gave everything we had.”

While the team will be losing key players in Khalise Harris and Michelle Labonte, Maria Galley has a message for fans of the team for next year’s season, “My message to our supporters is to expect us to come back stronger and better next year! Be prepared for another exciting season, and lots of competitive games.”