The Fossil Ridge High School Girls Basketball team won their third game in a row, defeating Erie High School 61-26 at home.

The Sabercats started the season off slow, sitting at 4-5 after their first nine games. Recently, Fossil has turned the tides, going 4-1 in their last five games including this three game win streak.

“We’re locked in on defense, we’re getting better offensively. The competition we’re playing isn’t quite as good as the teams we played earlier, but we’re still doing what we need to. I’m happy about that,” said Head Coach Jamie Menefee.

A big part of Fossil’s team identity is their strong defensive play. The Sabercats allow 40 points per game, but only 28 points in wins. These impressive performances come from the athletes being comfortable with the defensive schemes, as most of the players have been a part of Menefee’s system before.

“We’re lucky to have four girls that played a lot of minutes last year, and so we didn’t have to reteach all of our defensive principles…Even a couple of the younger girls Kaycee [Steinke] and Ella [Lavigne] practiced varsity last year and all summer long…it’s been effort and getting used to the system,” Menefee said.

The Sabercats will have no time to soak in the victory however, as they will face off against rival Fort Collins High School on Friday, January 28 at Collins. Fossil is also heading in shorthanded, as senior point guard Maddie Kohler reaggravated an ankle injury during this game. 

“We’re really prepared…I’m not sure about Maddie with her injuries, so that’s an adjustment we’re going to have to play with,” Menefee said.

Despite being short handed, the Sabercats head into one of the biggest games all season feeling confident, prepared, and playing with a chip on their shoulder.