The buzzer goes off and the score is tied 36-36 as the Cannon Falls C-squad team is pushing itself to the limit. The Bombers are up, but there go the Lake City Tigers. The game is tied 38-38 with only 10 seconds on the clock. Livia Tennessen is at the line for two free throws. One goes in and so does the second, 2.5 seconds left on the clock. Can the Tigers get one more shot up to tie or win the game? Will they make it? They don’t make it in time and the Cannon Falls C-squad team walks away with another win. 

This season, the composition of the girls basketball teams is confusing to non-players and parents, because this year the eighth graders are playing with the Freshmen on the C-squad team. Most other schools also don’t have that many people that playing girls basketball so most other teams that the C-Squad team will be playing are in the same situation. The sophomores, juniors, and seniors are playing on the varsity team. Both eighth graders and freshmen have been asked to sit on the bench for varsity. There is only one middle school team which is made up of seventh graders, who are playing as an eighth grade team. There is no seventh grade or Junior Varsity team for Cannon Falls.

The eighth grade team so far has had a very successful season with 14 wins and only about 4 losses. Seventh grader Amy Fick said, “I like playing a grade up, because I think it’s a great way to challenge us, and we’ve clearly done well doing it.” Some schools want to have both their seventh and eighth grade teams to play. The Cannon Falls eighth grade team plays double headers against both of these teams. Most of the seventh graders would jump at a chance to play their own level, but they all love playing up because it makes them better.

C-squad girls basketball player Madison Jordan said, “I think playing up is good for us but I would play our grade if we could.” She, along with most of the Cannon Falls players, have been playing up a level since sixth grade. Most of the team is eighth graders and they only have a few older girls.

Coach Erika Szramek has been coaching basketball for four years; this year she is coaching the C-squad team. Szramek said, “This year has been so much fun with the girls on this team! Each girl gives 110% with each practice and each game played. They are a group of hard workers that I know I can depend on both on and off the court!” The team is definitely giving it their best and have so far beat Kasson-Mantorville, Byron, and Stewartville. All of those schools are bigger than Cannon Falls and have more girls to choose from. This year’s team is amazing and the only thing Szramek would change about the season would be all the snow/bold days, because they take away the practices so the team can’t work on things that they need to work on.

The eighth grade team so far has won 14 games and the C-squad has won 6. With the end of the season approaching, both teams are hoping to win some more games. Through nail-biting overtime and lopsided blowouts, the girl’s basketball season is going as impressively as a half-court shot.