It’s a lock—our lady Bobcats have secured a playoff spot. The team finished their regular season strong.

The team tipped off the last section game of their regular season at Riverside high school January 23 and team came out with a big 47-18 win.

“It was a great section win, and it was extra special because it was my birthday,” said junior Natalie Priest.

The girls were back home January 27 to face the Avonworth Antelopes. Unfortunately, the girls suffered their first loss since the beginning of January falling 27-24 in a low-scoring game.

“It was a tough loss. We didn’t play our best basketball at all. It looked like a totally different basketball team than who we normally are, but you sometimes have games like that. We are just looking forward to playing better the rest of the season,” said junior Emma Pavelek.

The girls redeemed themselves on their home court January 30 while taking on the Mohawk Warriors, 54-44.

The win over the Warriors was huge for the girls’ placement in the playoff bracket.

“It was definitely our best game of the season. We remained calm even when things weren’t going our way. We got lots of rebounds for easy put backs, shot the ball well, and played great defense,” said junior Maddi Weiland.

Not long after the Bobcats traveled to Freedom to take on the Freedom Bulldogs February 3. The Cats chased those ‘Dogs all over the court coming out with a big 57-16 win.

“It was nice to see everyone scoring, and beating [Freedom] by almost double what we did the first time really showed everyone what we are capable of. Our coach [Greg Huston] always tells us that at the end of your season you need to be playing your best basketball, and I think that is exactly what we’re doing,” said junior Kenzie Weiland.

The girls honored their only senior, Kristi Buckenheimer, February 6 at their last home game of the regular season.

Let that sink in for a moment. This winning team plays just one senior . . . So what can we expect next season?

“It was such an honor to celebrate that night with this group of girls; they made the night so much fun,” said Buckenheimer.

On top of senior night Pavelek hit 1,000 points in her high school career. The team took on the Beaver Falls Tigers taking the last home court win, 63-25.

The girls’ last regular season game is tonight at South Side High School at 5:30 p.m.. If you can’t make it check the next ECHO for updates on their playoff run.