Air Academy refused to lose to Palmer Ridge twice.

After trailing by a game-high 12 points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Bears cut the Kadets’ lead to three, but were still unable to overcome a scoreless second quarter to fall to the host Kadets 35-26. The game comes two weeks after league opponent Palmer Ridge took down the Kadets 54-43 at home. 

“We didn’t panic,” Air Academy coach Phil Roiko said. “There was a timeout, and I told the girls there is a fine line between playing to win and playing to not lose. When you play to lose, you become tentative … versus making the play, being strong with the ball, continuing to play good defense, which is what they did.”

Roiko said the team is competing for a playoff position, since the top eight teams in each classification earn a home-court advantage until the Great 8. The Kadets (18-3, 5-3 league) are currently seventh in 5A, with the Bears (16-5, 6-3) in eighth.  

“We were playing for something,” Roiko said. “Palmer Ridge played a great game (two weeks ago), but I thought the difference tonight was our defense. We tried some different things on defense, and it worked. We made enough baskets to win and held on to the ball at the end. We did what we are supposed to do.”

After trailing 9-6 in the first quarter, the Kadet defense held the Bears without a point in the second while scoring 12 points to lead 18-9 at the half. Ten of those came from senior Kinley Asp, including two 3-pointers. 

Asp scored just one point in the first quarter, but went on to lead the Kadets with 18 points, including four shots from beyond the arc. Palmer Ridge’s Corinna Arellano had another great shooting night with a team-leading 11 points, including two 3-pointers after posting four 3-pointers on Tuesday. 

“Defense wins the game,” sophomore Grace Mooney said. “We knew what we had to do and knew we had to play aggressively, and I think we achieved that. We learned from the last game when they came out more aggressive than us, and won on the defensive end.”  

Thursday’s game was also the annual Kadets vs. Cancer night, which raises money for the Children’s Cancer Cause. 

“I just don’t think we were very aggressive,” Bears coach Jason Boyer said. “Offensively, we were pretty hesitant. And you can’t miss wide-open layups. They did a good job defensively as well, so tip my cap to them.”

The Kadets held Palmer Ridge scoreless for the last five minutes of the third quarter to maintain a 26-17 advantage into the fourth quarter. A late push by the Bears quickly moved the score from 29-17 to 29-26, but Air Academy held them off to finish with 4 of 4 made free throws to win the game. 

“We had more energy and started to hit some shots, but couldn’t make that key shot to get all the way back,” Boyer said. “They have a tough player to guard, and sometimes you can slow her down, and sometimes you can’t.” 

With the playoffs on the horizon, Air Academy looks forward to playing tough competition like Palmer Ridge and 5A leader Lutheran, which they previously lost to in overtime, next week. 

“It was a big win for us,” Asp said. “They’ve been a tough team, come into every game with such passion and a chip on their shoulder. They are aggressive and a hard team to beat, so to win and stay in the top eight is very important to us. Our mentality is we are here to win and go far in the playoffs.”