On Thursday, November 17, the MJHS Bears and Lady Bears went up against the Page High School Patriots and Lady Patriots. The Bears won both JV and Varsity, however, the Lady Bears lost both of their matches.
The Lady Bears took the early lead with a 3-point shot, which put the score 3-0 MJ with 7:02 left in the first period, but they were unable to pull ahead following this.
Jakoria Woods had an excellent half-court buzzer beater, which put the score 37-19 at the half. In the second half, the Lady Bears fell behind even more, with a final score of 70-34 PHS.
In the 2021-2022 season, the Page High School Lady Patriots won in the first round of the playoffs, and the Lady Bears went 5-18 for the season. The Lady Bears gave it their all, but sadly, their all wasn't enough.
The MJHS Boys Varsity, with members of the football team reeling from last week's elimination from the playoffs by Page, played hard but stayed behind the entire first half. Number 5, Osize Daniyan, who missed most of last season from an arm injury, scored the first points for the Bears.
Number 1, Braxton Corey, shot a 2-pointer to bring the Bears back within 3 points, which had not happened since the beginning of the game.
In the second half, the Bears played with a new sense of something, as they kept the score close for the rest of the game. Number 10, Eric Williams, was 3 for 3 on 3-point shots in the second half.
Daniyan dunked the ball in the fourth period and made 2 consecutive shots, for three and two points respectively, to tie and take the lead in the fourth.
This was followed by number 23, John Lloyd, who pushed the lead with a foul shot rebound. The final shot was made by Daniyan to give the Bears a victory to start off the season strong with a 53-49 win over PHS.
