Girls basketball team finishes historic season
By Evan Chisholm
The stage was set, the undefeated Lady Bulldogs were ready to face off against the Richfield Wildcats. Coach Pike and his players were well aware that they were favored in this game.
Things didn’t go the Bulldogs’ way in the first quarter as Richfield jumped out to an early 16-3 lead. Photo by Nyalok Akec.
To start the game Judge got off to a cold start with the Wildcats establishing a commanding lead of 16-3 as Rebecca Poulsen and Haille Janes each knocked down two three-pointers. Richfield stifled the Judge offense and forced multiple turnovers. It was clear the Wildcats knew Judge’s game plan and understood that they were going to have to apply all the defensive pressure they could to Teya Sidberry.
This is a scenario the Bulldogs hadn’t seen this season, backs up against the wall, down by double digits early in the game. Down 16-5 at the end of the first quarter the Bulldogs knew it was time to fight and embrace the dawg mentality.
To start the second quarter Judge starting point guard Maya Renteria banked in the heavily contested three to give the first glimpse of light for the bulldogs by cutting the Richfield lead down to single digits. The Bulldogs throughout the second quarter kept a chokehold on Richfield’s offense, holding them to zero points in the second quarter. During the second quarter Judge rallied back to cut the Richfield lead to three going into the half down 16-13.
in the third quarter Judge really started to slam their foot on the gas, combining their defensive efforts and the offensive skill set of Teya, the Bulldogs in this third quarter were borderline unstoppable. While Richfield was able to keep the game from getting out of hand by using their three point shooting ability and Nicole Willardson’s paint presence, the Bulldogs clawed ahead.
In this quarter you knew things were starting to go the Bulldogs’ way when Marika Collins grabbed an offensive rebound off a Teya Sidberry miss to put the Bulldogs ahead 19-16, establishing their first lead since early in the first quarter.
Oftentimes during the second half Teya was met with a fierce double team from the Richfield defenders.
“What I would do whenever Teya saw a double team was bring over a double screen,” coach Pike said, “which both opens up the lane for Teya to operate and allows for more offensive movement and more opportunities to score overall.”
To end the third quarter Judge led the ball game 31-26 behind the defensive efforts and hustle of the whole team. It looked like Judge was finally going to put the game away. But the Wildcats weren’t done.
Richfield started the fourth quarter hot with a five-point swing behind Nicole Willardson’s post action and a supporting cast of knockdown shooters. This point swing provided yet again another lead change, putting Richfield up 33-31 with 4:58 to go in the fourth quarter.
However, the Bulldogs were able to keep their defense tight after a timeout from Coach Pike. The Bulldogs went on a five-point run with a basket by Nyandeng Deng and a three by Esther Analjok to establish a 36-33 lead with 3:27 left.
But the game was far from over.
With three minutes left in the last game of her record-setting high school career, Teya Sidberry put together an offensive masterpiece, finishing the game with 27 points. Marika Collins knocked down a clutch free throw to put the Bulldogs ahead by seven with 26 seconds to go in the game.
Teya was unstoppable late in this game, weaving through the defense, finishing, and finding shooters. She put the Bulldogs on her back to lead the way to a triumph over a talented Richfield Wildcats team to secure the most meaningful win in Judge girls basketball history.
