The game ended with West’s 28-21 win, which prompted the fans to storm the field.

Team members said the season was a learning opportunity.

After several players, including junior quarterback Dustie Fender, suffered injuries, several sophomore players on junior varsity had to be called up to varsity.

“Because of injuries, we’ve had to move a couple of players up from junior varsity,” Assistant Coach Ben Pierson said. “We were struggling with a team of about eight seniors, a few of which are new to the sport, a large group of juniors and a few players stepping up from JV.”

Sophomore James Murray was one of the players that moved up from junior varsity.

“It’s a huge honor, but there’s mixed feelings,” Murray said. “It’s great to be able to get a feel for how varsity plays, but at the same time it’s disappointing to go from winning games easily on JV to having a very difficult time on varsity.”

The football team has improved over the course of the season, a fact that is proved by the season high 35 points scored by the offense against Brevard on homecoming night.

The junior varsity team has proven to be a formidable opponent by winning every game except for the final game against East Henderson, 22-28.

“Moving up the younger players to varsity hasn’t hurt the junior varsity team that badly, but it’s for the better,” Pierson said. “There’s a big difference between the level of play from the two.  The players are bigger, faster and stronger.  I’ve got a good feeling for the next few years since the sophomores this year will have more experience that they wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

By Patrick Martin, Head of Tech

The final shot landed and Miller scored 28 points, leading the Lady Falcons to a 60-46 victory.

“My proudest moment of the season for me was when we beat Brevard because I had 28 points, and it was just a huge win,” Miller said. “This was a season changing win and I am really glad we beat them ad continued our success.”

The team lost to Franklin, 35-46, in the first round of the conference tournament on Feb. 15.

The next game will be Feb. 25 in the first round of the state playoffs.

In recent years, North Henderson has been a struggle for the Lady Falcons, but this season has been a different story. On Dec. 11, the team posted a 49-27 win.

Senior Kalen Orr had 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Miller had six points and four rebounds.

“I was really proud of everyone for that win. The past two years we have lost to North (Henderson), but I am really happy we were able to really beat them,” Orr said. “That win was the high point of our season because we haven’t been historically good against them. Beating them my senior season really meant a lot to me.”

With a nine-win season a year ago, the team was hoping to see an improvement. Junior Jenna Sharrits said she would like to accomplish that goal and reach the playoffs.

The team is currently 7-16 overall, 5-10 in the Western North Carolina Athletic Conference.

“Last year we fell in the first round of the playoffs, which was really disappointing. This year I know that all of the girls would really like to see us get to the playoffs,” Sharrits said. “I think that with more hard work and a lot of heart we can accomplish the goal of winning more games than last year.”

Last year, the women’s basketball team lacked experience and leadership with only one senior on the team. Currently, the team has nine seniors, which has given the team a strong sense of leadership. In addition to Miller and Orr, the seniors include Kayla and Kelsey Walker, Danielle Buchanan, Haley Ward, Lauren Ward, Shelby Osborne and Ashley Spake.

“The biggest difference between this year and last year is the senior leadership. I think that this has really helped the younger girls on the team because it gives them many people to look up to,” Miller said. “We have all had to step up as seniors in order win games and have a successful season.”

Enthusiasm has also been a strength for the team, Sharrits said.

“I really like the fact that we play with heart and intensity,” she said. “It really helps to have positive attitude and pure will when the game is on the line.”

By Aury St. Germain, Sports Editor

Kennedy and the 4 x 800 men’s relay team placed fifth at the meet, qualifying them for the state competition.

The indoor track team had a successful season and sent six team members to the state meet on Feb. 9. Seniors Kennedy, Heidi Brickhouse and William Bayless and juniors Melissa White, Joe Chapman and Michael Tang all had qualifying times to compete in the state competition.

Kennedy said the team performed well in the state meet and he was proud of everyone on the relay.

“The relay team really ran well in the state meet. We did as well as we expected,” Kennedy said. “Although I thought we should have placed fourth, I was impressed with how we ran.”

In addition to Kennedy, the 4 x 800 relay team was included Bayless, Tang and Chapman.

“When we went to the meet on
Saturday, I was nervous,” Tang said. “But our performance paid off and we raced really well.”

The track team is not judged as a team, but on individual races. Along with the relay team, Brickhouse qualified for the state competition in shot put and White in the 55 meter dash. Brickhouse took second place at the meet, landing her a spot on the Booster Club’s  Wall of Fame in the cafeteria.

Brickhouse said that making the Wall of Fame was an achievement that marked a positive end to a great four years on the West track team.

“I was elated that I had finally achieved a goal that I had set from the beginning of the season,” Brickhouse said. “I am excited to be up there with the ‘greats’ of the school.”

White qualified for the state competition on Dec. 12 at the first indoor meet of the season. She said that it was a pleasant surprise to qualify so early for state meet and that it gave her time to practice and prepare herself for the state competition.

“I was actually surprised to have qualified for state so early considering the past two years I have waited until the last two meets to do so,” White said. “Breaking my old personal record just made the experience even better. I could fine tune things instead of worrying about meeting the qualification time to get to the state meet.”

The men’s relay team placed fifth in the state and were off the fourth place mark by  .02 seconds.”

Coach Walt Fletcher said he was impressed with his team’s results.

“My goal was to send as many people to the state meet as possible,” Fletcher said. “I’ve been really glad with the performances I’ve seen, and my only hope is that we can add to the total we already have.”

By Andrew Murray, Asst. Opinion Editor