Varsity boys’ basketball may have been the only Horizon Honors team to win their game on Wednesday with a score of 61 to 41, but all the teams still played outstandingly against Phoenix Country Day School. There was amazing offense from sophomore Gabe Knippers, sophomore Pilar Rivera, and senior Kevin Kim along with incredible defense from senior Krista Santacruz, and senior Trevor Weary. Despite their impressive playing, the other Eagles’ teams fell short of a win with the varsity girls’ game ending with a score of 25 to 57 and the JV boys’ team ending with a score of  52 to 53.

The night started off with the JV boys’ game. The Eagles had a consistent yet small lead the whole game and at halftime were winning 24 to 21. Thanks to great offense from Knippers and freshman Jake Jones, JV boys were still winning at the end of the third quarter with a score of  39 to 37. During the fourth quarter, Phoenix Country Day School managed to get ahead of the Eagles. It came down with the buzzer, and unfortunately, the Eagles were unable to score again, losing with a score of 52 to 53.

Next up was the varsity girls’ game. Phoenix Country Day school got an early lead, and the girls were unable to catch up despite remarkable offense from Rivera and junior Kenzie Knippers. The game was lost with a score of 25 to 57. Senior Sarah Simminger thought that the team tried their hardest with good driving, but their defense could have been better and was confident that they will do better in the future. Santacruz agreed with Simminger, and thinks the team could have done better, commenting, “I think that we could have done a lot better, I think there was a team effort, but we played our hardest out there and we’ll get them next time.”

The last game of the night was the varsity boys’ game, and their win lifted the spirits of the discouraged Horizon Honors fans. Senior Jarod Gates had amazing offense along with Stephen McCollum and Kim. Weary played both defense and offense incredibly. They were winning by a considerable amount the entire time, and the score at halftime was 39 to 21. The boys were able to increase this lead and won 61 to 41.

Cheerleader and sophomore Annabella Villanueva said, “I think [our basketball teams] did amazing. Our offense was [strong] and we had a really great defense, and I overall think that the team worked really well together and they’re meshing really well together. Go Eagles!”  So far, JV boys have won 10 of their games and lost three. The varsity boys’ team have won 12 games and lost two. Varsity girls have won 10 games and lost 3.JV boys next game is on Jan. 31, 2017 at Chandler Preparatory Academy. Varsity boys and girls next game is on Jan 27, 2017, at Tempe Preparatory Academy.