The final regular season game between the Kennedy Thunderbirds, and the Taft Wildcats was an intense one. The Taft Wildcats came into the game with a record of 7-4. Although the Wildcats had a winning record, placement for seeds in the playoffs had a lot of involvement with this game. If the Wildcats won, this would mean that they would be seated two or more seeds higher than their prior placement. If the Wildcats lost, they would then lose placement rankings and could even miss playoffs entirely. This proved to be plenty motivation for the Taft Wildcats as the game began.

In the beginning of the game, Taft jumped to an early 6-0 lead from fast break layups from Zack Tuila and Fano Maui. Not to be easily beaten, the Thunderbirds battled back against Taft’s great offensive and defensive efforts, until the very end of the first quarter. The score at the end of the first quarter was 19-13.

The second quarter showed no signs of difference, as Taft maintained the lead over Kennedy. The score at halftime ended up being 32-27 in favor of Taft. The third quarter showed a turn in momentum as the Thunderbirds out-scored the Wildcats 19-10. The fourth quarter was a nail-biter as every single possession for both teams ended up in a one-point, two-point, or three-point gain. The Wildcats and the Thunderbirds provided a very entertaining game for Taft’s home crowd as the two teams tied. The final score before the beginning of overtime was 57-57. Taft ended up winning this heated game, 75-73.