Ever been so close to obtaining something that you could nearly touch it? Last year, the girls’ middle school basketball team ended up losing to Rosarian Academy, their athletic rivals, in the PBISA basketball championship. This year, the Bucs had their chance at redemption as they once again squared off against Rosarian in the league semifinals. Rosarian Academy is The Hatfields to The Benjamin’s McCoys when it comes to girls basketball, so a loss to the Raiders hits a little harder than any other loss.

This year, the Bucs had already lost two heartbreakers to the Raiders twice during the regular season, 15-14 and 16-15. In both of those games, Benjamin had a chance to make game-winning baskets, but turned the ball over in the waning moments. Last year’s 26-19 championship loss to Rosarian is still a bit of a raw wound for some of the players from last year. “We have been trying to get them for so long, and every time we played this season, they beat us by one point,” said guard Molly Fried, an eighth grader and two-year veteran on the team.
Making the task of beating Rosarian even more difficult was the roster turnover from last year to this year.

“The team lost eight players who had graduated on to the high school,” explained Head Coach Jaclyn Filia. “Two other ‘A’ team players from last year decided not to play this season and we also lost a key starter to transfer. Therefore, we were returning for the 2015 season with only three veteran players.” This year’s team also gained some new players in seventh graders Hailie Miller, Crystal Pauldo-Devine, and Hannah Perez.

In the PBISA tournament this year, Benjamin played The King’s Academy in the first round. The Buccaneers won that game 23-10 in a dominating performance. With the quarterfinal game out of the way, Benjamin was then focused on getting the win against Rosarian in the semifinals.

After being down for most of the first half, Benjamin scored a three-pointer to reduce Rosarian’s lead to 2 points at the end of the half. In the second half, Benjamin began to score more and took the lead from Rosarian with nearly 3 minutes left in the game. The Bucs held off the Raiders and won the hard-fought battle 13-11. The long-desired victory broke Rosarian’s winning streak against Benjamin and sent the Bucs to the PBISA championship against Palm Beach Day.

However, despite an all-out effort from Benjamin, Palm Beach Day was able to defeat the Bucs in the championship, 18-13. The Bucs struggled from the beginning, but put up a valiant effort. With its second consecutive runner-up trophy, Benjamin is prepared to start at square one yet again next year. However, Fried remains positive and says, “It has not been great losing in the championships two years in a row, but there are a lot of of schools that we play against, and we are proud to make it that far.” The team is determined to finally bring home a championship trophy in 2016. Filia agrees: “Myself and the other coaches are excited to see what the new season can bring.”