GABE BARNARD
There are many ways to describe last night’s game against ThunderRidge. Whether it is described based on the game, the crowds, the emotion or the cheers, the excitement was over the roof.
The game started out at a modest pace, both teams seemingly calm as the game got underway. In the first quarter, only 14 points were scored, nine of them belonging to Mountain Vista and the remaining five to ThunderRidge.
At the end of the first quarter, the Vista student section performed their marching cheer to get the crowd riled up.
The second quarter started out a bit faster, Vista scoring two points in the first two minutes while ThunderRidge scored four, leaving the score at 11-9 Eagles.
However, by the end of the seventh minute, ThunderRidge stole the lead, scoring five points and making the score 14-11.
They maintained this small lead over Mountain Vista for most of the second quarter but a buzzer beating three point shot by Miles Hughes put Vista ahead by one point 22-21 going into halftime.
As halftime commenced, the student section enjoyed a performance by the Varsity Poms team as well as one by Elizabeth Tuller, senior, the Mountain Vista baton twirler. Once these were finished, the MV Unit used a cheer of their own that had been practiced in the school assembly that morning. It involved Ben Holland, senior, appearing as Ellen Degeneres to rub in the fact that, after inviting Ellen to their field day last year, ThunderRidge got rejected.
The third quarter marked the point where things really began to ramp up. With six minutes remaining, ThunderRidge led Vista, 25-22, then proceeded to increase that lead, 28-22, by the four-minute mark. The Grizzlies failed to maintain this lead, however, as Vista responded with a vengeance, scoring 16 points by the end of the quarter and leading, 38-35.
The fourth quarter witnessed both teams alternating the lead, with no clear dominant team. The score continued to be driven upwards, into the forties by the five-minute mark, and the fifties by the last minutes. As the quarter finished, a winner was not established, instead the teams tied, 56-56.
This led them into overtime, the most exciting part of the game, where both teams continued to battle it out for the win. The score was driven up into the sixties, first with Vista in the lead and then ThunderRidge. Unfortunately, ThunderRidge barely stayed out of the Eagles reach, ending the game with a 65-61 win.
The Eagles are not finished this season, they will most likely go into the playoffs, where they may have a second chance at that elusive victory over a strong rival.
