Saturday, the academic team finished out its season securing third place in its area tournament after what Head Coach Nicky Goff called a brain freeze in its 60-second round.
The team, coming off a second place regional win, progressed up to the championship round, but fell short in the first quarter after a break finishing in the top 12 of class 4A.
“After the hour break we were kind of cold, and then it was hard to get in the flow of it,” Goff said. “So after they beat us in the first quarter, we were basically as good as them the rest of the time, but they had too much of a lead from the first quarter.”
After the loss, Goff said the team was “a little shocked” following their success in the previous rounds.
“If we would have not been that close to winning first, I don’t think it would have been that big of a letdown, but when you get that close to winning first, and then you end up in third, it’s a lot more of a letdown,” Goff said.
Despite the setback, Goff said the team did well overall.
“I think I just think we didn’t execute well in one quarter of one game and that was the difference in the whole tournament,” Goff said.
Assistant Coach Julia Anderson-Holt said she felt the season was pretty ordinary, with a senior strong team that wasn’t as fast on the buzzers as previous teams.
“We were okay, but not as good as we’ve been in the past,” Anderson-Holt said.
Goff expressed the same sentiment.
A lot of it too is just how fast the other kids are buzzing compared to your kids,” Goff said. “It’s literally just who’s the fastest, not necessarily who knows the most, and that’s part of the game.”
Anderson-Holt said the team will be looking for new members next season and that anyone interested should be looking to join in the fall.
“For next year, we’d like to have a lot more underclassmen and a lot more girls,” Anderson-Holt said.
