It was Friday night as the HR girls basketball team was warming up for their Elite Eight game against a tall and athletic Lakewood Tigers team. When the game ended, the fans stayed in their seats shocked by the outcome. ‘Did we really lose?’ was a thought running through every fan’s mind. But, it was true the HR Falcons lost their very first game in Colorado to Lakewood by a score of 49-61.

  “Overall it was very progressive and good. Just wish it could’ve ended better, “ said Tommi Olson, junior guard. Losing is always tough, especially when they were chalked in to play the future state champions Grandview. Everyone had them moving on, to the point where the fans were already buying their state tickets. Sometimes that pressure can be too much.

  Autumn Watts, sophomore and post, said, “The game was depended on the refs. The refs called it early by calling every little foul on us. That’s what decided the game.” They made it to the elite eight with four new starters on the team. They made it to number one in state with one senior on the team. They made it to undefeated in Colorado after Jordan Matthews, starting point guard, tore her ACL and was out for the season. Through all the adversity, through all the change, through all the struggle, came all this success.

  “Although the story didn’t end like how they wanted, they had a great season and should be very proud,” Kaden Lathrop, senior, said. It’s always tough to lose, especially when everyone had them in the championship game. Kyle Pearson, senior, said,  “It’s the biggest cliche in sports, but it’s true: there will always be next year. They had a great season and it’s been fun watching them play great basketball day in and day out.”

 With the season over, they have some stats that are for the record books. They never lost a game in Colorado during the regular season, destroyed their rivals, and were ranked number one in state, all without four starters from last year. The accolades don’t mean much without the trophy, but the HR girls basketball team has gone places never thought possible. They keep playing great basketball year after year.

Dom Dakovich, Publicity Chair