Last night, the Women’s Varsity Basketball team took on their first big test of the season, in the #2 ranked Millbrook Wildcats. Millbrook was a team with good size, and were not afraid to shoot the ball. A key player for the Wildcats would be Reychel Douglas, who had great ball handling skills and was leading the Millbrook offense.

The game would start off strong for the gators, with four three-pointers sunk in the first quarter, catapulting them out to a 14-7 lead. The Wildcats would start knocking down their shots in the second quarter, and ended up taking a one point lead going into the second half up 22-21. The third quarter would be full of scoring, as both teams seemed to get into a offensive rhythm.

The fourth quarter would start out the way of the wildcats, as they would stretch their lead to 6 points with only a few minutes to spare. The gators needed to begin fouling to slow the game down, and give themselves a chance to score on the offensive end. With 55 seconds to go, the gators fouled trailing by 3 points. The free throw was no good, and the the gators quickly capitalized, with an Audrey Ericksen layup to cut the lead to 1. With 10.8 seconds to play, the one and one free throw from the wildcats was short, and the gators had a chance to win the game. Madison Nereu took the ball behind half court, and her eyes set on the rim. The solo drive worked, and the layup was made with 3.8 seconds on the clock! The last second shot for the wildcats would rattle off the front rim, and the Gators had taken the game, 44-43.

We caught up with Madison Nereu after the game to get her thoughts on the big win, and the last shot of the game. “It was a pretty big game for us, with them ranked #2. In regards to the final shot, Madison said, “I just kept dribbling with the ball until someone stopped me, and nobody really came to stop me so [I took the shot].”

This win pushes the gators to 8-0 record, and a likely move up the state rankings. Great work!

Watch the full second half below on Hays & Hall Productions.