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Girls Basketball Season Recap: Wildcats Fall to Parkway North in District Championship

Girls Basketball lost to Parkway North by four points last Thursday evening, bringing an end to their best season since 2014. Brooke Highmark led the team with 14 points in the 56-52 loss, and Kristen Keys followed with 12 points of her own.

The Wildcats kept the game close throughout the first half. After one quarter they trailed by two, but they tied the game at 27 going into halftime.

As the second half started, Parkway North began to overpower Westminster, running out to a quick six point lead in the third quarter. Westminster called timeout and stopped the bleeding, but weren’t able to gain any ground in the rest of the third. The Wildcats trailed 43-37 headed to the fourth.

Westminster cut the lead to three point with around three minutes left. However, they were then unable to find a basket for more than two minutes. The Wildcats had a few open shots, but none of them fell. They were only putting up three-pointers to tie the game and not looking for any open two-pointers. Parkway North hit a three with a minute left that would put the game out of reach. Westminster still failed to score until Kristen Keys hit a three with under 30 seconds to play.

The Wildcats scored as time expired, but it was too late. Their season came to an end at the hands of Parkway North. The score was 56-52.

For Kiley McKee, Kristen Keys, and Claire Sanden, their final season was their most successful. Altogether, they combined to average 25.9 points per game on their way to winning 19 games – two more than they had won in their previous three seasons combined.

Westminster’s other main players include Brooke Highmark, Carlie Vick, Macey Lottmann, Carsyn Beachy, and Reilly Brophy, who spent most of the season injured. These five players – three of whom are Freshman this year – will likely make up most of the starting lineup next season.

Overall, this team should only get better next year. Although they are losing three critical Seniors, they have two Juniors who are becoming Seniors, three very impressive Freshmen, and Marty Briner, a Sophomore who hurt her knee during the season.

This season was an amazing turnaround from last year. They lost to Parkway Central by 11 points – tied for their worst loss of the season – when last year they lost to the same team by 29 points. Their other 11-point loss cane to Kirkwood, who they lost to by 24 points in 2018. After losing to Ladue earlier this year, the Wildcats came back to defeat them in the District Semifinal, dominating the game and winning by 19 points.

Although they failed to win the District, this season will be regarded as anything but a failure.

2019 was a turnaround year for Girls Basketball, and the future only looks brighter.