The Mead girls basketball team played their final four-man matchup against Roosevelt High School on Thursday, March 7.

The Mavericks played an amazing game that was close until the final buzzer, but ended up losing to Roosevelt by a final score of 47-40. The Mavericks were within ten points of Roosevelt throughout the entire game.

The Mavericks did a really amazing job of shooting from range, scoring a lot of three-pointers, especially late in the game, which helped us come back and get the win. Ultimately, Roosevelt’s offense would prove to be too much for the Mavericks.

Led by sophomore Kyla Hollier, who pretty much didn’t miss a shot all game, the Roughriders outscored the Mavs in every quarter. Roosevelt’s defense was also great throughout the third and fourth quarters. Roosevelt barely let any shots get through throughout the game. At the end of the first quarter, the Mavs were down 16-10.

Roosevelt’s defense was grabbing every rebound they could and sprinting up the court. It became apparent early in the game that if the Mavs wanted to win, they weren’t going to be able to shoot from range like they had done all season.

The second quarter did not have much scoring for either team, as only seven points total were scored.

The last two quarters brought most of the offense to the game. However, Mead was still out, scoring 40-47 in the end. The Mavericks showed resilience until the very end and went out with a great showcase of skill and determination.

It was senior Gianna Wurth’s (‘24) final game as a Maverick, and she played amazing. She definitely led the offense for the Mavericks, and she made layup after layup and shot a lot of three-pointers as well. Across the board, though, all of the Mavericks played great and all helped out to try and make it to the State Championship.

The final four was still a great accomplishment for the Mavericks’ girls basketball team, as they had not been to the final four since the 2021–22 season. Hopes are high, however, for the Mavericks’ girls basketball team, as most of the team will stick together next year since the only senior leaving is Gianna Wurth (‘24).

Roosevelt would go on to win the State Championship game against Northfield, so if you want to make the argument that Mead was the second-best team in the state, you very well could.

It was a very great season for the Mavericks, finishing with an overall record of 22-5. The Mavericks truly dominated the 5A girls division, despite their late-season loss to Roosevelt.