Taft Highs girls’ varsity basketball team has had a very busy season already. Their first game was against Bakersfield High School. This was the girls’ first game after only two weeks of practicing. During this game, they had a total of fifteen girls playing at the varsity level. The girls were just starting to mesh and work together. The score was 50 to 46 which was the first loss for the varsity girls. They came back next week with a win against Kennedy, which was actually a close game for the girls. The ending score was 50 to 46. The score was not to stretched out, but the girls came in the lead. Their next game was against Shafter on Dec. 4. They went to general territory and took another loss 48 to 34. This was a rough night for the girls, but they held their own and stayed as close to the Generals as they could. The girls had almost two weeks of games. They had two days of practice and games every day for two weeks.

The San Luis Obispo tournament was a three-day tournament for the varsity girls, where they played schools most of the girls never heard of. Their first day of the tournament they played two games. The first game was against Pioneer Valley, which was a one-point loss. The game score was 48 to 47, which was a great game for the girls but a hard loss. They ended up playing Paso Robles after and took another loss with a score of 63 to 54. The next day they played Templeton which was a win but, unfortunately, that win cost them a player. A player was injured and the team was down to 14. The next game was McFarland on Dec. 11, which was a hard loss for the girls. The ending game was 62 to 44.

That same weekend the team went and participated in the Stockdale tournament. Their first game was against Stockdale High School, which came to a close game but a loss overall. The ending score was 49 to 41 but the team did their best with the number of girls they had. The team went through a rough time and ended up participating in the tournament with only 6 players. The first day of the tournament was the toughest game because only 6 girls were released and able to play. The first day was the day that they had to play back-to-back. The girls fought as hard as they could both games but only came out with one win against Mira Monte 49-28. The next day, the team had seven players and played against BCHS. The team did a great job but had a rough shooting day and loss 57 to 37. The next day they came and played West High, which is one of the best games the girls ever had. They came up in numbers of players and had around 8 players that were capable of playing. They gave all they could but lost 58-53. It was a close game, but the girls weren’t able to pull through.

The girls had a tough two weeks with playing games almost every day before finals. Now they get a week off of games and a week of practice to get better and improve their skills. Their next game is the Arvin tournament, which is the day after Christmas.