By JIMMY SILAY

The Northgate girls' basketball team has had a tough start to the new year.

In their first game back from winter break, the girls lost to section opponent Bishop Canevin, 77-43.

The team got back to their winning ways in a home game against Freedom. The first quarter of the game began with eight consecutive points from Chloe Quinn, followed by two from Freedom. Kayla Saylor responded with two points of her own, but Freedom came back with a five-point run that was again stopped by two points from Saylor. By the end of the first quarter, the girls were winning 12-9.

The second quarter was dominated by the Flames. The quarter began with a 12-point run, in part due to the scoring of Savannah Paladin, Saylor and Hoover. After this offensive run, Freedom was able to score a basket of their own, but the Flames responded with another four-point run from a combination of scoring by Erika Hill and Saylor.

In addition to this offensive output, the team played tremendous defense. They held Freedom to only six points, while the team scored 18 of their own, to take their halftime lead to 30-15.

With a win in sight, the girls seemed to play very tentatively in the third quarter. The Flames were held to only three points, one from Hoover and two from Sarah Dunn, while giving up 17 points. Their halftime lead was down to one heading into the fourth quarter.

With the game on the line, each team went point for point, never letting the opponent get too far ahead. When Freedom would score, Brenna Kennelly would score, followed by Freedom, then Hoover. This point-for-point scoring continued for the final minutes of the game, until it ended with the Flames ahead by two, 44-42.

Coming off of this emotional victory, the team was hoping for a win at section opponent Seton LaSalle, but hope was not enough. The team lost, 75-33.

With the season about halfway completed, the team has an overall record of 5-5 and a section record of 1-2.