On Tuesday February 5th, the 13-3 Paint Branch girls’ basketball team had an intense match up against a 9-7 Bethesda/Chevy Chase  squad. With a good record and a very successful season, Paint Branch looked forward to coming out and improving on what has already been an excellent effort by the team.

This is exactly what they did as PB began to apply the pressure from the very start of the game. The game was very close at the beginning though, as BCC was able to come up with a few steals to allow their defense to create opportunities. Paint Branch’s  Patricia Anumgba was able to make a few shots in the beginning to pad PB’s lead as they cruised through the 1st quarter.

The second quarter was more of the same as the defense really showed out in the first half. Merete Cowles from BCC got a steal, which helped them cut their deficit as the half wound down.  As the horn sounded on a very close first half, the score stood 26-14, PB.

Paint Branch started the second half strong with two steals to begin the 3rd. PB’s  Precious Oyinloye made the first shot of the half for PB, which was followed by a three by Cynthia Stewart to give PB some momentum. Paint Branch was soon going on a run, but Cowles hit a clutch floater to get BCC back in the game. With two minutes left to go in the quarter, BCC’s Jessica Katz made a tough layup to get the score to 36-24. The defense on both sides was very intense, but PB held strong and the score for the 3rd quarter ended at 36-26, PB.

Oyinloye started the 4th off with a layup, followed by a fast break bucket by Anumgba. PB’s   Obriani Remy and Katerra Myers hit consecutive threes to make the score 46-28, PB.

BCC knew they had to regroup so they called a timeout in order to make a new game plan. Some time passed and Pb’s run started increasing tremendously. Lily Roberson of BCC had a close shot to bring the score to 53-35.

But, as time passed, it seemed as if PB just wasn’t letting up in crunch time. Myers had a fast break layup to give PB a 25 point lead with 30 seconds left in the game. It was a good competitive game from both teams, and the final score of the game was 61-36.