Oakville varsity girls basketball are back from winter break and better than ever. Coming back from break with a record of 2-5, the girls were determined to step up their game against Hazelwood West. With this win on Jan. 8, they pulled through the week with three out of four wins.

“It was great game, we were all pumped up for it,” said Jessie Growe (12).

The game started off with Leah Fridley (12) being taken out the first quarter after spraining her ankle during a rebound. At halftime the tigers led 23-21.

Later, when only 2 minutes and 20 seconds remained in the game, the tigers had scored 16 more points and Hazelwood scored 17, making the score 39-38. Suddenly Emily Ball made a break away, putting the tigers up by 3 points, but Hazelwood quickly retaliated to narrow the score to 41-40 again.

In the final 10 seconds of the game, both player Emily Kuntze and Bridget Costello made use of the opportunity to take their free throws. Each girl made both, and the tigers took home the win with a final score of 45-40.

“The final minutes of the game were the intense and nerve racking. The bench was really into the game which helped the girls finish strong,” said Mikayla Smith (12).

The tigers have a short break before their next game on Jan.19 against Lindbergh. Leah Fridley plans to have recovered by that time.