Fossil Ridge High School’s girls basketball team won their first playoff game, defeating Eaglecrest High School 55-40 at home.

The Sabercats started the game off slow, entering the fourth quarter tied at 33 a piece. However, the team kicked it up a notch during the final eight minutes, scoring 22 points and advancing to the next round of the tournament. Coach Jamie Menefee was impressed with his team, crediting their victory to high effort and determination.

“By far the most evident thing to me as a coach was just our will to win. Now we also have really good players who made really good plays, thankfully. But even if those shots wouldn’t have gone in, I feel like we would have just found a way,” Menefee said.

Fossil’s leading scorer for the game was senior guard, Maddie Kohler, leading both teams with an impressive 17 points, including four three-pointers. Kohler entered the game determined, as this marked her final home game at Fossil Ridge.

“It feels amazing, especially being a senior and knowing I have at least one more game left and we’re just ready to keep going,” Kohler said.

The Sabercats now advance to the Sweet 16, where they will travel to play Monarch High School for the second time this season on Tuesday, March 1. Monarch was the last team to defeat Fossil, winning the matchup 55-54 on a last second shot. However, Coach Menefee felt the bigger issue in the first matchup was that his team trailed by 14 points entering halftime, and had to expend all their energy to work their way back.

“We can’t get behind by double digits like we did last time…cause they’re a hard team to come back on…If we can get into the second half, that’s usually when we play better. I don’t want to wait that long, but if we can get into the second half close, I think it’ll be anybody’s game,” Menefee said.