The gym was filled with students from both schools cheering and screaming as the boys varsity basketball team played Oviedo for the second time this season, with Hagerty winning 53-47. Two weeks before the Friday rematch, the boys lost to Oviedo by one point, 48-47. This time, Hagerty held a steady lead for almost all of the game, only letting Oviedo take the lead once.

“It felt good to beat them at home with such a great crowd,” captain Aiden Cilladi said. “We definitely should have crushed them the first time around, but glad we got the win in the end.”

Cilladi had 16 points and captain Dawson Barr had 24 points. Point guard Asa Kohn had three points, five assists and one rebound. Cilladi lead the team in rebounds with 11 during the game.   

The score was 34-27 at the half, and the team scored an early three-pointer leaving Oviedo with a 10-point deficit. Oviedo, in the span of two minutes, however, caught up to Hagerty by making two three-pointers and two two-pointers. After that the game got physical fast- both teams had eight fouls each- one of which gave Oviedo their only lead, 38-37.

“Because they are our rivals, it was definitely more intense,” Kohn said. “There were a lot of cheap shots taken, but I’m glad we still came out on top.”

To prepare, the team rewatched the film from the previous game. The biggest problem they noticed was giving Oviedo space to have open three-pointers and letting Oviedo’s offense move the ball quickly. 

Along with the technical part of the game, the team focused on their mentality. According to Cilladi, this was the most important part of their preparation.

“It hurt us badly to lose like that in front of a lot of people,” Kohn said. “We focused on what we could improve quickly and built up our mentality to beat them this time.”

The boys varsity game was just one of four Oviedo-Hagerty contests that night, and the home team won all four.

The girls varsity basketball team beat Oviedo 62-24. They started off the game strong with a 10-point lead by the end of the first quarter. They maintained that lead throughout the second quarter by controlling possession of the ball. The second quarter ended with a half-court buzzer-beater shot by point guard Kiara Harris. 

“It was definitely an intense game, but we kept our cool and had control the entire game,” Harris said.

The boys junior varsity team won 68-40. They took an early lead but right after half, they started to slow down and Oviedo got close. After a time-out, Hagerty pulled it together and left with a win.

The boys freshman team beat Oviedo 47-43. Both teams kept taking the lead, and it came down to the final quarter when the boys got a last-minute three-pointer and pulled out the win.

But the main event was the revenge match for the boys varsity team at the end of the night. The boys now have a record of 15-5, and their next game will be against Timber Creek on Jan. 23.

“We are going to keep improving over the next two weeks and hopefully go into playoffs with an even better record than we have now,” Kohn said.