NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO – STC senior Kayla Heck is guarded by Meskwaki freshman Sade Kapayou during Monday night’s game. The Warriors defeated the Trojans 44-42 thanks to a last second shot by Kalayna White.

Coaches versus cancer was the theme of the night at the roundhouse, as people from all around the community came together to support cancer research and watch some entertaining girls basketball on Monday night.

That is exactly what the South Tama Trojans and Meskwaki Warriors fans got. Both girls teams were desperate to get a win as the Trojans were still looking for their the first one of the year, while the Warriors look to add to their previous victories in pursuit of achieving a winning record at the end of the season.

The game started out evenly matched as both South Tama and Meskwaki traded baskets back and forth. Senior Sienna DeFoe provided early scoring for the Trojans, while freshman Sade Kapayou did the same for the Warriors. After a few minutes of even play Trojan senior Kayla Heck got hot. On three straight possessions, she was able to get to where she wanted on the floor and hit her shots. This helped separate the Trojans to an early 17-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

As the second quarter got started, it was the Warriors’ turn to go on a run. Freshman Dorothy Bear and senior Sia Bear were able to lead Meskwaki on both offense and defense to aid them in cutting into the Trojan lead. The Warriors defense was really the difference in the second quarter as they held the Trojans to only one point to take the lead going into halftime, 19-18.

Coming out of halftime, both teams were looking for ways to gain the upper hand, but the competition stayed just as tight as the first half. Fortunately for the Trojans, Heck was able to get back on track offensively to end South Tama’s scoring drought and keep the score close with the fast paced Warrior offense. Going into the final quarter of play, Meskwaki led 33-31.

The score in the fourth quarter was tight throughout, which led to a 42-42 tied ball game with 21 seconds to go. It was the Warriors with possession of the ball as junior Sophie Shuckahosee launched a three-pointer with eight seconds left that missed short and fell right into the hands of Warrior senior Kalayna White who quickly shot the ball back up and in to give the Warriors a two point lead with three seconds left.

After a timeout from South Tama, DeFoe had one last shot to tie the game that missed allowing Meskwaki to capture the close victory over the Trojans. After a tough loss, the Trojans hope to be able to bounce back in time for their regional playoff game against the 8th-ranked Benton Bobcats on Saturday night at home.