At approximately twelve o’clock p.m., the Archer Varsity Basketball team walked out of its first tournament of the year with seventh place out of sixteen schools.

On Saturday, the Panthers played the Hollywood Sheiks (so named for the long, very Hollywood film “Lawrence of Arabia”) and WON, 60-35. The game itself went by pretty quickly, with minimal fouls (at least, until the fourth quarter, when the coaches started making bets as to when Ciena Lennon would foul out) and several amazing plays. Coming out of their loss on Friday to the Rolling Hills Huskies (58-25), the Panthers stepped up their game, much to the coaches’ delight. Although several players were missing due to the SAT/ACT, the seven available players kept their energy and speed consistent throughout the game.

To no one’s surprise, Maia Barnett played a truly amazing game (BEATING Archer’s record of point scored in a game; she scored 37!) mostly as a center (letting Lindsey Levesque handle the point guard position and score eleven points). Not only did Maia score points: she also stole fifteen rebounds away from the Sheiks, much to their dusty displeasure. Ciena Lennon played a somewhat risky game, and had four fouls by the third quarter, but she didn’t let that stop her: she scored ten points and rebounded the ball twelve times. Freshman Christian Luhnow played most of the game, scoring a basket and getting seven rebounds. Emily Ward also played a fair chunk, and grabbed five rebounds. Iman Husain also played well by grasping aggressive defense and running the court with remarkable speed. Despite having large Sheik land very ungracefully on her and the ball, Marcela Riddick played a wonderful game, recovering quickly and stealing three rebounds.

As a whole, the team and the coaches were very impressed with the Panthers’ efforts. Coach Lennon was thrilled by his team’s progress, especially given that the players were going off of just a handful of practices and were often switched around to different positions and defenses. Everyone is looking forward to this week’s tournament: it is believed that the Panthers will continue to make great strides.

Record: 3-2

Next Game: Monday December 3, Crossroads Gym, 7 p.m.