In an epic battle of tug-o-war, the girls basketball team came up with the short end of the rope in a hard fought 52-55 loss.

“[The girls] gave it their all,” head coach Bill McTaggart said, “the coaching staff and I couldn’t have been more pleased.”

Coming into the game the Little Hawks were the underdogs, having lost to West two other times this season. However, they were confident that they could come away with a victory.

“We had practiced really well and we expected to upset them,” McTaggart said.

In the first half the Little Hawks came out slow. Passes were sloppy, rebounding was low, and the shots weren’t falling. Going into half time the team knew they needed to pick it up if they wanted to have a chance to advance in the tournament.

“We needed to go out and play as well as we can,” McTaggart said.

In the second half they did just that. The Little Hawks were able to convert on turn overs and get the ball outside to Mickey Hansche ‘13. Early in the fourth quarter Sierra Chambers ‘12 got into foul trouble, but Aliyah Gustafson ‘13 came out big for the Little Hawks. Gustafson quickly scored six points to make the score 46-48, forcing West to take a time out.

After the break West scored, but Kiera Washpun ‘14 responded with a three pointer sending a roar through the City student section and cutting the lead to one. West would return with their own three, but Haley Lorenzen ‘14 was quick to score again.

At this point West began to burn the clock. Lorenzen was fouled and sent to the line. She made one free throw to make the score 52-53. West scored another basket with 11.5 seconds left. City had time for one last play, but was unable to execute.

While the loss stings, after the game the team had no regrets.

“In the end we left it all on the court,” Hansche said.