It was a night the entire East Noble community could enjoy. For our varsity girls’ basketball team, Friday, January 27 marked the last game of the regular season, and it was a good one, all right. Proud parents, rambunctious high school students, and future mini cheerleaders all got to watch in suspense as the Lady Knights took down Norwell right here at home with a final score of 52-41.

The victory was, to say the least, truly hard-fought. EN’s JV team had just been defeated by Norwell (21-44), whose varsity girls seemed more aggressive than ever. Players like our own Abbie Peterson were knocked down at a few intense intervals, but that didn’t stop our girls from rising to the challenge.

While Norwell managed to score the first basket roughly two minutes into game, junior Corrie Jones immediately responded with a basket of her own. The first quarter was arguably the roughest patch of the night. Each team kept pulling ahead of the other, and for awhile it looked like Norwell might have enough energy to win. The score was 8-9 and Norwell was leading as the first quarter drew to a close. Then Lanie Allen made three successful free-throws, pulling EN ahead, and the rest is history.

Allen and Peterson are two of the six seniors who were honored before the game that night. The other four were Kendaya Mapes and team managers Jessica Vandiver, Shelby Hensschen, and Ceudah Hajashafira. All six entered the gymnasium escorted by their proud parents and received a gold bag and much applause. With a season that has boasted numerous wins, they have definitely made Head Coach DeAnn Booth proud.

Lanie Allen’s ability was especially apparent late in the second quarter when the ball hit her head and she crashed onto the ground and into the wall along the side. Allen proceeded to pick herself up and made two free-throws, which looked as effortless as all the others. This is the kind of determination that helped the girls maintain their lead over Norwell for the last three quarters even though the other team was always close behind.

The night held other small victories, however. The East Noble pep band invited eighth grade band students to join them in song, and the cheerleaders claimed the court during halftime of the JV game to perform with dozens of girls from the elementary cheerleading camp program. Eager-faced parents lined the gym railing and captured the special moment on their phones.

The varsity girls basketball team is set to play the winner of a Northrop/Northside game this Friday at 6:00 PM. The game will be held at Northrop high school, and the Sectionals game will begin at 7:30 PM. Good luck, girls! Don’t worry too much. You’ve already made your community proud, it seems.

Friday proved that.