Troy Athens High School

Friday night the Lady RedHawks welcomed in the Southfield A & T Warriors to Athens Gymnasium for a league affair. The 1st place RedHawks looked to take a step closer to an outright championship, but with a win could secure a co-championship at the very least. But tonight was all about our Seniors as we celebrated Kata Tasich, Katie Malone, Jaya Jackson, Erica Obra and Annalise Lorenz. All 5 of these young ladies have been an instrumental part of the program and have represented Lady RedHawks Basketball admirably. With all 5 seniors starting for the 1st time together, a fast start was in the cards. The problem was that the fast start came from the visiting team as they jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. The RedHawks 1st points came 2:30 into the quarter as Kata hits a 3-pointer, then Jaya adds a basket and Gabby Bieniek subs in gets a steal and a bucket and we are tied. Both teams traded baskets throughout the rest of the quarter, but Southfield was able to grab a 15-11 lead after one. The Warriors would start the 2nd quarter on a 5-2 run to take a 20-13 lead, but the Lady RedHawks would go on a 10-2 run to take a 1-point lead into halftime. " I hit Kata with a pass in the last seconds, and she nailed the jumper for the lead." "The gym was so loud and the bench went crazy," said Katie. "We started out slow at the start but found our groove and started scoring," she added. Kata with 7-1st half points and Jaya with 6 led the RedHawks in scoring. Southfield opened the scoring in the 3rd, but the RedHawks quickly erased the last lead that the Warriors would have in the game. Our ladies made a run of 24-5 to take an 18-point lead heading into the 4th. Our senior backcourt of Katie (7 points) & Kata (6 points) helped to carry the quarter. The 4th quarter was much of the same as the RedHawks outscored the Warriors 21-7 to run away with the game by the score of 68-36. Kaitlyn Piggott with 6 points & Gabby Bieniek and Erica Obra each had 5 points apiece in the quarter. "Our team simply dominated the second half, our communication, grit and execution were the keys for us in the win," said Kata. "This game was a true testament to how special our team is," said Jaya. "The hustle, passion and energy that every single player had carried us to the win," added Jaya. Annalise said, "the environment was awesome to play in, the energy was electric and it carried over to our players." "I am so grateful to be on a team as special and supportive as this one is." The RedHawks were led by Kata Tasich (13 points, 6 boards, 3 assists & 1 steal), Gabby Bieniek (11 points, 3 boards & 3 steals) and Kaitlyn Piggott (8 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals & 1 block). Other contributions came from Erica Obra, Katie Malone (6 assists, 4 steals & 3 boards) and Ashasri Daram (4 steals, 2 assists & 1 board) all with 7 points apiece. Jaya Jackson had (6 points, 7 boards & 2 assists), Annabelle Beaubien (4 points, 5 boards, 2 steals & 2 assists) and Hailey Fellin (5 boards & 1 assist). The RedHawks shot 47% from the field on the night, had 45 rebounds, 21 assists as a team and 18 steals. An awesome performance for a championship team! The win raises the Lady RedHawks overall record to 17-4 and 8-1 in league play. Our ladies will put their 7-game win streak on the line on Tuesday as they face their archrivals in Troy High in the annual Coaches vs Cancer Game @ 7:00 at Athens. Congratulations ladies and great win!