On Tuesday, November 28, our Judson Lady Rockets (11-3) basketball team fell to the Wagner Thunderbirds in a back-and-forth rivalry game with the stands packed.
In the first quarter, the Rockets won the jump ball and took control of the game. With a couple of buckets by the Lady Rockets to give them the early lead 2-4, the crowd was roaring. After the Thunderbirds made a couple of gutsy plays they stormed back, forcing the Rockets to call a timeout at 11-13. The Rockets fought through Wagner’s offense and forced some turnovers to end the quarter only down 2 points, 18-16.
The second quarter was a shoot-out between both teams, with the Rockets making some big defensive plays. With the Thunderbirds making some tough shots, the second quarter ended with the Thunderbirds lengthening their lead 32-29.
After halftime, the Thunderbirds could not miss and went on to run up the score, though Sophomore Laney Arredondo kept the Rockets in the game with some big and timely buckets. The tandem of junior Korina Garcia and sophomore Laney Arredondo played extremely hard defense and led the Rockets to gain some momentum going into the end of the quarter 43-39.
Going into the fourth quarter of the game the Rockets took early control of the game, though after a pair of fouls were called to send the Thunderbirds to the line the T-Birds were back in it. In the last five minutes of the game, the Thunderbirds did well to get offensive rebounds and made many second-chance points. The Rockets played hard until the very end though unfortunately, the Thunderbirds had killer fast break points that ultimately secured them the game.
The Lady Rockets’ next game will be played against the Iowa Colony Pioneers (9-3) at Iowa Colony High at the NEISD/NISD Tournament against Iowa Colony High School on Thursday, November 30.