Lady Colonels Lose Heartbreaker

The Lady Colonels basketball team fell to Paint Branch 47-41 Monday night, but not before playing a wild game that showed off their potential.

Magruder (2-16) fell behind by as much as 15 in the first half, and had a 12-point deficit at halftime. The team made adjustments and came out with fire in the second half, especially defensively, and slowly crawled back into the game with their press. Finally early in the fourth quarter, they were able to break through and take the lead.

“At halftime, we went in there, we talked about what we needed to change,” Magruder coach Erin Borsody said after the game. “The main thing was just believe in themselves, they needed to believe...that's been our motto for the past three weeks or so. If they believe it, anything is possible.”

The press gave the Lady Colonels several short runs in the second half. They started the half on a 6-0 run, and every time it seemed that the Panthers had figured it out, Magruder would jump in the way of another pass and take it downcourt for a layup. They were led by senior Amanda Witmer, who had 17 points and finished several of those plays.

After the third quarter ended with a 38-33 lead for Paint Branch, again, Magruder would go on a 6-0 run to start the quarter. Rachel Staton hit a layup for the third basket, giving Magruder a 39-38 lead, their first lead of the game.

“I love our press,” Borsody said. “I love the intensity that it gives us...It's a team press, they all need to work together, and when it does, it allows a lot of steals, like we got against Sherwood [in a win last week].”

After Magruder took the lead, Paint Branch coach Daniel Fehrer called a timeout that seemed to suck all the momentum away from the Lady Colonels. Magruder made another free throw to stretch the lead to two, but the Panthers were able to score enough down the stretch to pull off the win. Paint Branch (6-12) was paced by Diamond Harris, who scored 16.

“I think the timeout frazzled us a little bit,” Borsody said. “It kind of made us go cold a little bit, and then we started fouling instead of playing solid defense, and so we lost the lead.”

Despite the loss, it was the second straight good game Magruder played, following their win over Sherwood Friday night. While the team likely won't be able to climb out of their division cellar, a few good games could be something to build on for the playoffs.

“We're going to keep going, take it one game at a time,” Borsody said. “Anything is possible. It's all practice before the playoffs. Everbody goes to the playoffs, and you never know what's going to happen in the playoffs.”

The Lady Colonels play their next game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at home when they face Walter Johnson.