A chant for GDS echoed through the gym as the women’s varsity basketball team prepared for their scrimmage against Friendship Collegiate Academy on Friday night. The game was a suspenseful scrabble, with GDS eventually securing a 45–30 victory to open their season.
This year’s team is composed of mainly underclassmen. Senior Evelyn Chen, one of the few upperclassmen on the team, said it was “a little nerve-wracking to see how we would adjust. We graduated a lot of players, and we lost two other very good players.”
Friendship controlled the ball after tip-off, but GDS quickly regained possession. After a miss from GDS, Friendship scored three points with an impressive shot near half-court.
Friendship scored another three-pointer, followed by the first free throw of a foul-packed game. GDS managed to get the rebound off the second free throw and a layup from freshman Raech McKnight, the first points for GDS after being down by seven.
Head coach Pam Stanfield chose to play Friendship to prepare the team for the regular season. “Friendship is a very aggressive team. I wanted to scrimmage this team because the teams that we play in our league are very aggressive,” Stanfield said.
After a timeout, freshman Liya Fairfax took control of the ball and sprinted down an empty court to make a layup and score.
After a second timeout, both teams took multiple shots from behind the three–point line with no success. In a wrestle for a rebound, Friendship fouled GDS, and McDuffie scored on both free throws, bringing the score to 9–6 with Friendship in the lead.
Friendship players and parents erupted in outrage over multiple fouls called against their team. “They were very aggressive; they were very loud, but that didn’t intimidate us at all,” McDuffie said. “We tried to play through it and play together.”
As the quarter wound down, senior Chen scored to close the gap, tying the game at 10–10 going into the break.
GDS began the second quarter with possession and another foul from Friendship.
Play resumed after a timeout with another long shot from Friendship, changing the score that had stalled for most of the quarter. McDuffie answered with a layup to score GDS’ first points of the quarter.
Friendship once again was called for a foul on GDS, who took advantage of both free throws.
After an intense scrabble against Friendship’s defense, McDuffie landed a mid-range shot that put GDS ahead for the first time in the game.
Friendship came back to tie it, but Fairfax secured a rebound and scored a three-pointer to bring the total score to 20–17 and give GDS the lead heading into halftime.
Halftime was a key turning point in GDS’ success. “The kids reacted to the feedback form the coaches, and they implemented that in the game, and it showed in the second half with the adjustments that they made,” Stanfield said.
Friendship began the third quarter with a point from a free throw, but Chen quickly recovered the lead with a three-pointer out of the corner.
Friendship’s intense defense resulted in a foul and two more free throws scored by Fairfax.
GDS matched Friendship’s defensive intensity and fouled Friendship, who failed to score either of their free throws. The next five points were scored by free throws from McDuffie, McKnight and Chen.
Friendship grappled the rebound from GDS and scored a mid-range shot. Soon after, they scored an impressive three-pointer almost halfway across the court.
The third quarter ended at 35–26.
In the fourth quarter, McDuffie saved a ball from heading out and bounced it out of bounds off a Friendship player while they were both in midair to maintain GDS’s possession.
After a timeout, GDS weaved passes through Friendship’s offense to give Fairfax a layup.
Chen said the passing sequence was a highlight play. “It went from one side to the other two or three times, which was really nice, and we got a nice layup for Liya [Fairfax] from that,” she said.
McDuffie delivered another game highlight with a dramatic fake-out of a Friendship player, finishing with a layup as GDS’ bench and coaches roared with applause.
McDuffie closed out the game with a two-point jump shot.
The coaches stressed the importance of community and camaraderie in the sport. “It’s really all about the team bonding and the chemistry the kids have on the court,” Stanfield said. “I just want the kids to have fun and be challenged; that’s how we define success.”
“Getting a win in the first scrimmage, you could definitely see our confidence progress a lot during the quarters in this game,” Chen said. “I think that’s going to reflect the rest of the season.”
GDS will play Archbishop Carroll High School at home on Nov. 20.